The Unthinkable
by nannygirl
Summary: The unthinkable has happened to Henry Langston, now his loved ones are left to process it all. My take on the upcoming episode, "True Believer."
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing. I do not own Resurrection or any of it's characters. I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! This is the first story I've written for Resurrection, it's also the first non-That '70s Show story that I've written in a very long time, so I'm kinda nervous. It's also the first time I've written a fanfiction for a story that's still on the air! I usually wait until a series ends but after last week's episode of Resurrection and the preview for next week my mind went crazy with possibilities and ideas and so came this story! This episode does take place after the episode "Prophecy" from season 2. It's my guess and maybe even hopes of what will happen in the next episode, "True Believer." I really hope that you all enjoy it, if you have the time, please do review it! I'd love to hear your thoughts on both the show and the story. A huge thank you to my fellow Resurrection fans who gave me some incredible support when writing this story: Marla's Lost, TvFanaticDayDreamer, and kevinthebird. Be sure to check out their stories too! Thanks again for stopping by to read, I hope you like, and please, Enjoy!_

* * *

Lucille Langston couldn't help but smile as she placed the last remaining plate into the rightful cupboard.

It had taken several hours but she had finally finished rearranging Margaret's rearranging and everything was back where it belonged. At least where the dishes and other kitchen utensils were concerned. In the other parts of the house, and the house itself, there was still something missing—Henry.

He still had not come back home since their fight earlier that day. Not that Lucille was expecting him to, she'd practically kicked him out and he'd willingly left. Thinking back to the argument though, she was filled with regret. The day had been a very long and very tiring day for both of them and they'd taken it out on each other. Lucille knew that she could not blame Henry completely for what happened with Jacob and Margaret but she couldn't help but wonder if he really did blame her for Jacob's death.

She was pulled away from her thoughts by the chime of the doorbell and she immediately frowned, wondering who would be out at this time of the night.

Knowing there was only one way to get her answer, Lucille walked out of the kitchen and over to the front door. On her way over there though, just as she neared the end of the staircase, she tripped over an object; luckily catching herself before she stumbled forward. Once Lucille had regained her balance she looked behind her in search of the obstacle that she had failed to notice before. Soon her eyes landed on a pair of work boots that looked like they had been dropped at the bottom of the staircase without a care in the world.

"Damn it, Henry," she cursed her absent husband.

She had told both him and Jacob to not leave their shoes lying around the house—it seemed like Jacob had been paying more attention to her than his father. Lucille was just about to pick the shoes up when the doorbell rang again, reminding her of why she'd come over here in the first place. When she reached the door she peeked out the glass window and found her brother-in-law standing on the front porch in his sheriff's uniform.

"Fred, what are you doing here?" she asked as she opened the door.

He stared silently at her for a few moments before he found his voice, "Lucille, we need to talk."

The redheaded woman looked over the man standing in front of her. He looked, not angry, but upset, almost emotional. There was only one person who Lucille could connect those emotions being brought out in a person to.

Lucille shook her head, "If it's about Margaret I don't want to hear anything about it," she firmly told him as she stepped away from the door but left it open—letting Fred know he was still welcome in the house. "She's caused enough trouble to make up for the thirty some years she'd been dead for."

"It's not about Margaret," Fred interrupted Lucille's rant.

Instantly Lucille looked up to the top of the staircase and began to fear the worst. She was about to fleet up the steps to check on her son, but Fred noticed this and stopped her before she could make any move.

"It's not Jacob," Fred told her, giving Lucille a quick moment of relief until she realized there was only one person left, "It's Henry."

She turned around to look at her husband's brother, "He told you about the fight."

Fred's brows knitted together. Fight? He knew nothing about any fight, but now that he did he was guessing it might have played a part in the reason why his brother had been driving this late in the evening, on slippery roads, and after getting—what he'd thought was a not so severe head injury. He was about to inform Lucille about his lack of knowledge on this subject but she had already continued to speak.

"And now he's sent you over here to help patch things up or at least get me to agree to letting home come back home tonight," she guessed, shaking her head and smiling a not so happy smile. Lucille then reached down to pick up the boots she'd nearly twisted her ankle over, "Well it's not going to work. We said some very hurtful words to each other. The things he said to me…" she shook her head, not wanting her mind to wander back to that moment. "He can sleep at a motel or he can stay with you, I don't care. He just can't stay here, I'm not ready to welcome him back into this house."

"Luce, there's been an accident," Fred said after realizing that he'd waited too long to tell her.

Henry's boots dropped to the floor with two soft clunks.

"No," Lucille said, as if saying it would make it true.

With his arms opening for a hug, Fred stepped towards her but seeing that only upset Lucille even more. She knew what that meant. If there were injuries or details about the accident to report, he would tell her; a hug meant there was nothing more to report.

"No," she repeated, this time it came out as a wail before she fell into Fred's arms and began to sob.

Fred hugged his brother's wife…his brother's widow…hoping to bring her some sort of comfort as she grieved; of course he knew it would be tough. The one person who'd always been there to comfort her, was the one who she was now grieving for.

0o0o0o

Despite the bitter cold and the fact that the ambulance had left more than a half hour ago, Agent Martin Bellamy and Dr. Margaret Langston remained standing at the site of the accident, staring at the vehicle where Henry Langston's lifeless body had been found.

"I can't believe he's gone," Maggie said, breaking the silence with her still in shock voice.

Marty nodded in agreement then added, "He was a good man."

"He was a great man," she corrected, thought not at all in an angry tone, it was more of an informative tone before it suddenly took a very somber turn. "I'm really, really gonna miss him."

"He was your uncle," Marty replied, letting her know how he wouldn't expect her not to miss him.

"Yeah, I know but he was more than just an uncle," Maggie began to share aloud. "I mean my dad is great and he's always been there for me when I've needed him. But there were times when he couldn't be there and he needed help. Like when he was working midnight shifts, and I was really young, I would stay over at Uncle Henry and Aunt Lucille's."

She continued with her story, getting lost in her memories, "And I realize now how hard it must have been for them, with loosing Jacob and all, but they really did treat me like their own kid."

This made Marty nod his head, he could understand where she was coming from. He hadn't know The Langstons very long but Henry and Lucille were always very welcoming and kind, making him feel like he was visiting family anytime he visited them.

"We'd eat dinner together, watch TV…"Maggie went on, her face suddenly breaking into a smile, "He used to tell me these two-bit jokes that were so bad that they were actually funny!"

Marty couldn't help but smile as he noticed the growing grin stretching onto Maggie's lips as she recalled the memory. He soon found himself thinking of his own memory, when he'd first The Langstons and Jacob and Henry had greeted each other with a two-bit joke about a frog in a blender.

"What did the math book say to the pencil?" Maggie suddenly asked, tearing Marty out of his thoughts.

"What?"

Maggie grinned, "I have a lot of problems."

"Yeah, that's pretty bad," Marty agreed but still had to laugh along with Maggie.

"I told you!"

Their laughter continued a little longer before it faded into silence, something that seemed to happen almost as soon as their eyes caught the sight of the empty car.

"I can't believe he's gone," Maggie said once again, only this time her voice broke with the tears that she was struggling to hold in.

He could hear her struggle and Marty didn't want her to feel like she had to be strong in front of him. He could sense that she was in much need of a hug and so Marty wordlessly put his arms around Maggie's slender frame, slightly surprised when he felt her arms come up to wrap around his neck. However, he wasn't at all surprised when she began to finally cry and let it all out; her tears only made him hold her tighter.

"This is all my fault," she said, her words muffled by Marty's gray winter vest but he had heard them just fine.

Marty frowned as she pulled out of the hug and began to wipe the corners of her eyes, "Your fault?"

"Yeah," she nodded, looking down at her feet, "I'm a doctor. I should have warned him about driving after getting a head injury like that. I barely paid his injury any attention. I didn't even check if it needed stitches," Maggie told him, explaining where her guilt was coming from. "What kind of doctor is that? What kind of niece is that?"

"We don't know for sure if his head injury was the cause of the accident," Marty reminded, he hated seeing her blame herself like this. "It could've been his heart."

"Then I should've seen the signs that he was having heart problems!"

"Hey," Marty spoke in a firm but soft voice as he reached out and took hold of Maggie's right hand, getting her to look him in the eyes. "This wasn't your fault, okay?"

There was a moment of hesitation before, with teary eyes, Maggie nodded her head, "Okay."

"Good," he said letting go of her hand to move his up to her arm for a few moments.

It was a nice little gesture that made Maggie smile just a tiny bit before she sniffled softly and wiped at her eyes again.

"I wonder how Aunt Lucille's doing," she wondered out loud.

Marty nodded, "I was just wondering the same about Jacob."

"I guess I should probably head over there, see if there's anything that I can do for them."

"Right," he agreed.

There had been a death in her family and now she needed to be with her family. Marty understood this as he watched her begin to walk away. He had no intention to stop her until he had a sudden thought.

"Are you sure you're okay to drive out there on your own?" he called out to Maggie, getting her to stop and then turn around.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she assured, turning back around only for a moment before she turned herself back to face Marty. "No. No, I don't think I am. Could you drive me?"

"Sure," he wasted no time in agreeing which made Maggie give him a tearful, thank you smile.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Like it? Hate it? Please be sure to let me know in a review._

_I'm not sure how long this story is going to be, it probably depends on Sunday's episode, but I do already have two more scenes figure out for this story :D I'm pretty excited about it and I hope you all are too! _

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **__I own noting!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Ready for tonight's Resurrection? I know I am! But because we still have a few hours till then I thought I would post the second chapter of this story. Thank you so very much for the wonderful support you all have given the story! It means so very much and I hope that you enjoy this next chapter as well! Thanks for stopping by to read, please if you have the time please don't forget to review, I would really love to hear your thoughts on both the story and even the show :D Thanks for reading, hope you like, and as always please, Enjoy!_

* * *

Back at the Langston house, it had been some time since Fred had given Lucille the news that he never hoped—never imagined—he'd have to give her. She had managed to compose herself and stop crying, but as soon as she did Fred suddenly wished for the tears to come back. Now that Lucille wasn't crying, she wasn't doing anything. She just sat there in silence, looking as if she was lost in her own world of thoughts.

They had moved into the kitchen now. Lucille sat at the kitchen table—in Henry's usual spot—and across from her was a chair where Fred's jacket and duty belt hung on the back. It had been a long day for him too. He didn't plan on going back to the station tonight unless it was a _very_ serious emergency.

"I forgot how hard it could be to boil water," he joked as he handed Lucille a mug; she didn't laugh. "I hope the tea's alright."

Lucille looked up at him and gave a small smile, "I'm sure it's just fine."

And then she was gone again. Back in her own world inside her head that must have been filled with thoughts about who knows what.

Fred was just about to take a seat beside her when the doorbell rang. He looked over at Lucille but it appeared that she hadn't heard the sound.

With a light sigh, he said, "I'll get it."

However, Lucille never saw Fred leave. He had taken the kitchen exit that lead out to the main hallway and her gaze was fixed on the exit of the kitchen's back door.

That was the last spot where she had seen her husband alive—he had been so angry at her and her at him. The last time they saw each other they had been arguing, she couldn't believe it. Henry's last thoughts of her must have been of how much he hated her, but what really killed Lucille was that he must have died thinking that she hated him.

That wasn't true, it couldn't be farther from the truth. She loved her husband—stubbornness and all—but she'd never be able to tell him this again.

A fresh fountain of tears was threatening to pour out and they nearly made it out until Lucille spotted Maggie and Marty enter the kitchen with Fred not too far behind.

"Aunt Lucille," Maggie said softly as she made her way to her aunt and wrapped her arms around the older woman.

From his spot, Marty watched the hug between aunt and niece. He heard a few murmured words but he didn't even try to make out what they had been. That was a private moment between them and Marty wanted in no way to intrude.

Quite some time had passed before the Langston women pulled out of the long hug. And when they did, end their hug, small tear shining smiles were exchanged before Maggie squeezed herself behind Lucille's chair so that she could take a seat in the kitchen chair on Lucille's left.

Marty stepped towards Lucille and placed his hand over hers, "I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," she said with the tiniest of smiles and the most tearful eyes.

As Lucille said this she gently squeezed Marty's hand with hers as if inviting him to stay and sit with her too. Marty did just that, taking a seat on Lucille's right, straight across from where Maggie sat.

"Where's Jacob?" Maggie asked the question that was on Marty's mind.

"Upstairs."

It was Marty's turn to ask a question, "How's he taking all of this?"

"He doesn't know," came Lucille's even reply, her eyes never met Marty's or Maggie's, she just stared straight ahead.

Maggie and Mart exchanged looks of worry before looking at the two older family members; Marty looking at Lucille while Maggie stared over at her father.

"He doesn't know?"

"She hasn't really had the chance to tell him yet," Fred answered for his sister-in-law but it looked like she had a reply of her own to make.

"I can't tell him," she said, still in her numb state.

After hearing this, Fred joined in on the concerned looks that were being shared again between his daughter and Marty.

"Lucille, you've gotta tell him," reminded Fred, as gently as he could.

"I _know_ I have to tell him," Lucille said, breaking out of her daze to show some annoyance at what had just been said to her. "But I can't." she could see the frowns that had formed on their faces and knew she had to give further explanation.

"Jacob is so much…" she swallowed hard, trying to push back the lump she felt in her throat, "so much like his father. He looks so much like Henry when he was younger," Lucille added then paused just for a moment, "I keep thinking back to when we were told about Jacob's death. The look on Henry's face…I don't want to see it again on Jacob and know that once again I had a role in putting it there. I can't!"

The last two words came out as a mix between a shout and a sob, before Lucille bowed her head in attempt to hide the falling tears. Maggie's heart broke for her aunt and she soon moved closer to Lucille, pulling her into another much needed hug. The men meanwhile, exchanged looks from the sideline of things.

"It's gonna be okay," Maggie tried to bring her aunt some comfort. "You don't have to do this alone."

Fred nodded when he heard his daughter's statement, "Maggie's right, you've got us."

"We'll help you," added Marty with a reassurance.

Carefully and slowly, Lucille looked up with red eyes and a sniffle, "Thank you," she whispered to them.

Marty nodded, "But if you don't mind, I think we should tell Jacob sooner rather than later."

"Tell me what?"

The four heads looked up and turned to see Jacob standing in his pajamas only a few feet away from them. They each stared at the young boy worriedly; none of them knowing just what to say and their silence seemed to frighten Jacob.

"What's going on?" he asked but his question was only answered by more silence; so he turned his eyes to the one person who he'd never seen worried or afraid—until now that is. "Uncle Fred?"

The sound of his name caused Fred to glance over at the kid. He knew his brother had died thinking that this boy was his son but Fred had yet to make that same recognition. He didn't know who this person really was, so he didn't know what to say. Luckily, someone else did.

"Jacob, buddy, why don't you come sit over here?" Marty suggested as he scooted out of his current seat and over to the chair right beside it, making room for Jacob to sit between him and his mother.

No questions asked, Jacob did as he was told and sat himself in the open seat. Marty took a deep breath, he remembered his own words said just moments before—how it was better to tell Jacob sooner than later—but now with the boy sitting next to him, looking at him with big eyes, Marty was starting to think that later might actually be the better choice.

He turned his stare away from Jacob for just a moment and caught the sight of Maggie giving him an assuring head nod. That little nod suddenly gave Marty the strength he needed to continue.

"Jacob," he began in a calm and steady tone, "There was an accident."

This information made Jacob's brows furrow and he began to look around the room. Everyone was there, only his dad and grandma were missing…but his mom was crying.

"It was my dad, wasn't it?" Jacob somberly asked Marty.

The agent nodded, "Yeah, it was."

Jacob's eyes stayed on Marty, "But he's gonna be fine, right?"

Hearing this question made Marty feel even worse than before, he couldn't give the boy the answer that he was hoping for. Again, he looked over at Maggie hoping to get some more assurance or support from her but it wasn't as successful as before due to the new tears shining in her eyes.

"I'm afraid not, buddy. Your dad was hurt pretty badly," Marty explained, keeping his voice soft. "He died."

"But he's gonna be fine," insisted Jacob.

His words confused his cousin enough to make her forget about her sadness and tears and instead ask, "Jacob, you know what Marty means when he said your dad died, right?"

"I know what death is. I died," he reminded and then a smile broke onto his face, "And then I came back. Just like my dad will."

Hearing Jacob's explanation gave Maggie a realization that she hadn't even thought of before. She looked over at Marty and her father and by the apprehensive expressions they wore on their faces, it didn't look like the idea had crossed their minds either. It apparently had not entered Lucille's mind either but she reacted much differently than the rest of them.

"Jacob! You're right!" she said suddenly smiling grandly, then looking at the others. "Henry will come back! He'll be a returned!"

"Hold on a second, Luc. I don't think you should get so excited too quickly," said Fred, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I mean we don't know for sure who or what these returned really are. Do you really want Henry to come back like that?"

Lucille glared angrily up at the man who quickly moved his hand off of her when he saw the look she was sending him. Meanwhile Jacob nervously looked down; not because of what happened to his father but because of what his uncle had just said.

Marty could feel the tension in the room rising. The family had already been through enough today, he didn't want to see them go through any more unneeded drama, so he stepped in hoping to revise Fred's comments as well as the emotions they had sparked.

"I think what Fred means is that there's still a lot we don't know about the returned," Marty stated, ignoring the defeated and slightly annoyed look he was getting from the sheriff; his focus was on Lucille. "We still don't know how any of this really works…"

A smile began to creep back onto Lucille's lips, "It doesn't matter that we don't know how it works. All that matters is that it works and it's happening!" she told him, her smile growing more and more, "It happened with Jacob, it happened with Margaret, and it'll happen with Henry. Maybe it's something that runs in the Langston family, I don't know and I don't care as long as it brings back Henry."

Maggie's aunt had given her a theory about the returned that she'd never considered, however, before she could think too much about it, she remembered a detail about the returned that Lucille seem to have forgotten.

"Aunt Lucille, it took Jacob and Margaret decades to return," she reminded, "Uncle Henry might not come back today or tomorrow. He might not even come back years from now. He might not come back at all."

"He'll come back," Lucille firmly argued with just enough anger to make Maggie, Marty, and Fred drop the subject.

Their silence made Lucille's smile appear once more as she stood up and looked at her son, "Come on, Jacob, let's get you back to bed. There's nothing for us to worry about now."

Jacob stood up, ready to go back up to his bed; his mother placed her hands on his shoulders to carefully lead him out of the room.

"You're my little ray of sunshine, you know that?" Lucille asked, kissing the top of Jacob's head causing him to smile.

The trio sat at the table and watched the mother and son leave the room that became silent as soon as they were gone.

"Dad," Maggie said, worry evident in her voice—worry for her cousin and most especially her aunt. "What're we gonna do?"

Fred heaved a sigh, "I don't know."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? Somewhere in between? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_I have one more chapter planned out and could possibly post later today if you all would like :D It's not the final chapter but it's what I've gotten up to so far. I'm hoping after tonight's episode I'll get inspired with more ideas. _

_The next chapter we'll see Jenny, a little Marty/Maggie bit, and more Lucille and Jacob hoping for Henry's return._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Now the big question, what did you all think of last night's Resurrection? I thought it was AMAZING! Still can't get over it. it was amazing acting, powerful scenes, just incredible. I won't say much else here because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't see it yet, if you want to talk more about it though, feel free to PM me though :D Okay so today I have a new chapter for you, a little shorter than usual but I needed to cut it in half. Also this chapter and next episode were done BEFORE True Believer aired so there are little to NO references to things that happened in that episode however, soon I will be addressing it all in a future chapter. I hope that you don't mind. Also a great big wonderful thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read and review this story! It means so so much! I am having such a great time writing it and it means the world that you all are enjoying reading it too! I hope you all like this chapter and please do review if you can, I would really love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for stopping by to read, I hope you like, and as always, please, Enjoy!_

* * *

"Where're we going?" young Jenny asked from the passenger's seat in Marty's car.

"We're gonna go see some friends," came Marty's reply.

Jenny frowned just slightly, "Friends like Maggie?"

Taking his eyes off the road for a quick moment, Marty smiled at his sister, "Sort of."

He thought his answer had satisfied his sister's inquisitiveness, but he'd forgotten that she was a kid and kids were filled with curiosity and even more questions.

"Do you like Maggie?" asked Jenny.

"Sure, I do," Marty nodded then titled his head to the side just slightly as he added, "That's why she's my friend."

Though Jenny was smiling she was also shaking her head back and forth, "No, I mean do you like her, _like_ _her_?"

That was a question that Marty had definitely not seen coming. He was surprised by it to say the least, so much so that his shock was visible on his face and quickly noticed by his sister.

"You do," she said with a smile and a nod of her head. He was about to say something to that, when she continued, "Big sisters know these things."

Watching Jenny give a knowing smile before turning her head to look out the window, Marty had to smile himself. He'd never imagined that he'd have a big sister; certainly not one that was many years younger than him, but he did. And it was pretty great.

Still he thought he should talk to her and clear up the whole thing about 'liking' Maggie. He didn't want Jenny to get the wrong idea, especially since she'd previously asked him several questions about him being married. He opened his mouth to speak but at that same time, Jenny had spotted the familiar two story house that they were driving up to and she quickly became very eager.

Her head swung over to look at Marty, showing him the joyful smile that had sprung onto her face.

"That's The Langston's house! We're gonna go see Jacob?" she asked excitedly.

Marty's smile soon appeared again, "That's right."

Jenny was practically jumping in her seat as Marty pulled into the driveway and put the vehicle in park. He was sure that Jenny would jump out of the vehicle and run to the house as soon as he unlocked the car door and he couldn't have that. Though Marty was sure that neither Lucille nor Jacob would mind, Marty wanted to talk to her before they went into the house. He needed to tell her about everything that was going on and explain why they were there.

"Jenny, listen, The Langston's are going through sort of a tough time right now," he began to say and Jenny's smile shrunk into a more sympathetic expression. "Jacob's dad died last night. And I thought we should stop by and see them, to try to cheer them up and see if there was anything we could do to help them out."

Hearing this made Jenny nod her head, she liked the idea but did have one suggestion, "We should've brought some beef stew."

"Beef stew?" Marty asked with a mix of confusion and amusement.

Again Jenny's head moved in an up and down motion, "It's one of the foods that Mom used to call comfort food."

"She did?" Marty asked causing Jenny to nod; suddenly Marty wanted to hear more about his mother who he never really knew. "What else did she call comfort food?"

The young girl shrugged, "Lots of stuff."

"Think some time you could tell me more about some of that stuff?" his voice had a hint of hopefulness to it.

"Sure," Jenny was quick to agree then even quicker asked, "Can we go see Jacob now?"

"Sure."

0o0o0o

They only rang the doorbell once before the front door was yanked open by a smiling Lucille.

The grin that she wore was so grand and happy, however it started to diminish the moment she saw Jenny and Marty. Her smile's shrunken state did not last very long though; before anyone could notice or say anything about it, Lucille was smiling brightly again—although the smile did not look as happy as it did before.

"Marty, Jenny," she greeted them happily, though still felt a great deal of guilt for the way she had intentionally reacted to seeing them. "I'm sorry about that. I…I thought you were Henry."

Instantly, Marty felt a feeling of remorse when he heard her say this. Although he wasn't sure what he felt worse about: that for a moment he had, unintentionally, given this kind woman the hope that her husband had returned and was at her door or that she still believed that he would.

"But it really is so good to see you both," Lucille continued, then stepped to the side and waved them in, "Come in, come in."

The siblings walked into the house while Lucille shut the door behind them. Once inside the house, Marty caught a string whiff of something so warm and delicious that despite having just had breakfast, it made his stomach rumble with a small growl.

"Jacob's playing outside in the back," Lucille told Jenny.

The girl's smile doubled in size, "Thanks Mrs. Langston!"

Lucille smiled as she watched Jenny sprint through the house and over to the door that would lead her to the backyard; when she was gone Lucille turned her grin to Marty who gave a polite smile back.

"How're you doing?"

"I'm fine, just fine," she answered then began to walk away, calling over her shoulder, "Come with me into the kitchen."

Marty followed her and found that the closer he got to the kitchen the stronger and better the delectable scent became.

"It smells great," he complimented just before he walked into the kitchen.

As soon as he did enter the room he had to do a double take. This kitchen did not look the way a kitchen did on a normal Monday afternoon; it looked like a kitchen on Thanksgiving. There was food and pots and more food scattered around the room.

"It's pot-roast," Lucille informed, shutting the oven door after she'd finished checking its contents; her smile grew as she added, "It's Henry's favorite."

With slumped shoulders Marty had to hold back a sigh. She was still so convinced, still so hopeful, that her husband would be back. It was becoming painful to watch.

"When you brought Jacob back to us, I was unprepared. But this time I'm making sure I'll be ready," Lucille continued, her smile growing more and more, "I'm making Henry's favorite meal with all of his favorite sides, some desserts that I know he loves. And I even got him his favorite beer."

A sad smile formed on Marty's mouth, "I'm sure he'd like that."

Lucille didn't seem to notice that Marty's words had been said in a way that sounded more like Henry would appreciate it _if_ he'd returned. She just continued to grin and went back to checking on something on the stove.

"So I take it you haven't heard from anyone…Henry or Margaret?"

For a moment Lucille's smile dropped and she sighed sadly, "No and no." Her second 'no' sounded much more chirper than her first.

When he heard this Marty couldn't help but smirk; he had noticed the different tones that she used. Lucille was obviously not only disappointed that she hadn't heard from her husband but very happy that she hadn't heard from her returned mother-in-law.

As he smirked, his gaze traveled over to the back window where he had expected to find the two kids laughing and running around but instead found them sitting at a picnic table that had been set out there, looking serious and very quite. Marty frowned but didn't want to worry Lucille.

"Mind if I go check on the kids outside?"

"Go right ahead," she replied waving him off.

Marty left the room without saying anything else, but Lucille didn't mind or didn't notice. She just continued to work on Henry's favorite foods. She had to make sure everything was ready for him when he got back and he was coming back. She was sure of it.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Next chapter should be up soon again, please remember this chapter and the next one were done BEFORE the 1/11/15 episode those events will be addresses soon enough though :)_

_Sneak peek into next chapter: More Jenny and Jacob and more Maggie and Marty and more on Henry's possible return._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Sorry for not updating yesterday but I thought I'd wait some time so some of you could catch up before posting the next chapter. Thanks once again to all of you who have reviewed the story so far, your words of encouragement mean so very much and any new readers please feel free to review at any time! I'd so love to hear from you! Today's chapter is the last chapter I had done before the episode True Believer aired so starting from the next new chapter, you'll see more of things brought in from the show :) I really do hope that you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for stopping by to read, please review if you can, hope you like, and as always, Enjoy!_

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"Hey," Marty called out to the kids sitting on top of the picnic table, but only got the attention of Jenny.

She smiled at him, "Hi, Robert."

Marty smiled at his sister but as he stepped closer to the table he kept his attention on Jacob. The young boy hadn't made any kind of welcome to Marty and by the way he continued to stare off into the space of the forest of trees in front of him, Marty was sure that Jacob wasn't even aware that he was there.

He looked down at Jacob, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Jacob replied in a quick, dismissive fashion.

"What're you guys up to?" he asked, frowning slightly.

The question had been directed towards Jacob, hoping he'd say something but it was Jenny who once again did the answering.

"We're looking out for Jacob's dad," she explained, "Jacob said he was coming back."

The frown Marty wore softened into a more compassionate one. Seeing how hopeful both Jacob and Lucille were about Henry returning made Marty wish that the man would come back for their sakes. But wishing and hoping had no role in this situation with the returned (not as far as he knew) and Marty thought that Jacob deserved to hear this. He knew it would be hard news for the boy to take, but Marty figured it was better coming from him rather than having Jacob figure it out on his own when weeks had passed and Henry hadn't come back.

"Jacob, I know this is hard for you but I really think you need to understand that there's a really good chance that your dad won't come back the way you and grandma did," Marty explained in a soft and gentle like tone; he sighed before adding, "In fact it's probably more likely that he won't return than anything else."

Jacob's gaze stayed ahead, looking past the many trees and towards the river—a place where he had several happy memories with his father—still he responded to Marty's statement.

"I know."

His sudden agreement confused Marty, "You know?" he asked puzzled but Jacob made no reply with words or actions so Marty pressed on. "Then why did you say all that stuff last night?"

"Because it made my mom happy. I don't like seeing her cry. I wanted to cheer her up." Jacob explained and then at the last turned to glance at Marty, "Was that bad?"

With those big worried eyes looking up at him with such a sense of innocence, Marty released a small sigh. This kid really did love his parents. First, he'd been willing to disappear for good in order to keep them safe and now in the wake of his father's death, he was trying to keep his mother happy even if it meant believing things that he knew might not be true.

"Your heart was in the right place," Marty finally said, making a smile come onto Jacob's lips; his happiness had Marty feeling pretty good too. "Mind if I join you guys?"

The response to his question was a smile from his sister and Jacob scooting closer to Jenny so that there was enough room for Marty to sit on the table top with them. Smiling his thanks, Marty took a seat at the left side of the table, resting his feet on the table's sitting bench.

The trio sat in silence, their stares focused on the scenery in front of them; nothing but the great outdoors with trees, plants, and the running river. However the longer Marty looked out n the scene, the more he too began to hope that he might spot Henry emerge from behind one of the big trees.

"Hey."

A new voice had called out, grabbing Marty's attention before it could wander too far off on the topic of Henry's return. Marty turned to look behind him, where the voice was coming from, and found Maggie walking towards them with a smile forming on her face.

"What's going on?" she asked once she reached them, and then asked in a more joking manner, "Was there a Big Foot sighting I didn't know about?"

"We're keeping a look out for my dad," Jacob informed his cousin, wearing a small smile.

However, while Jacob appeared content and almost sort of eager, Maggie became gravely concerned.

"Um, Jacob," she started to say. "You know your dad…"

"It's okay," Marty interrupted Maggie, already knowing where her speech was heading—the same path that his had taken not too long ago. And a path that Jacob was fully aware existed.

Maggie of course, didn't know this so his interruption came as a shock to her. It didn't take long for Marty to notice the scowl that Maggie was suddenly wearing; seeing it, told Marty how puzzled she was and that he needed to share what he'd learned just before she had gotten there. Still, he didn't want to do it with the little pitchers and their big ears so close by.

"Hey, why don't you guys take a break and go play for awhile?" he suggested to the two friends. His offer was met by a confused look from Jacob and so he added a little bit of assurance, "I'll stay on guard here and let you know if I see anything."

Before Jacob could give a reply or even think about one, Jenny hopped off the table and grabbed a hold of his hand, giving it a small tug that told him to do the same.

"Come on, Jacob, they wanna be _alone_," Jenny said while grinning teasingly at her brother.

With his brows knitted closer together, Jacob looked over at the pair—catching Marty smiling and shaking his head, while emerging on Maggie's face was a frown that matched his own. But despite his confusion and his want to stay and look for his dad, Jacob moved off the table and let Jenny lead him to the other side of the yard.

"So, why is it now okay that Jacob believes his dad is going to return?" Maggie asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Because he doesn't believe it as much as we thought he did," informed Marty. "He knows there's a really good chance of Henry not returning."

Maggie was only becoming more confused, "But what he said last night…"

"He said it to cheer his mom up. He didn't want to see her cry," Marty continued to explain, "I can tell there's a part of him that really hopes his dad will be back but for the most part, he said it all for Lucille's benefit."

"Huh," Maggie said as she took in everything that she had just been told; a soft smile crawled on her lips as she sat herself beside Marty on the picnic table. "It's actually kind of sweet when you think about it."

"It also gave Lucille a lot of false hope," reminded Marty.

"It's made her happier though, which is kinda better than seeing her crying and upset," she pointed out then confessed, "I'll admit, after we left, Jacob's words stayed in my mind and they made me pretty hopeful too. He's a returned and can sense when others are nearby, I thought he might've be onto something."

Marty nodded, he himself had similar thoughts for a short period of time last night, "Yeah."

"It would just be so much easier if Uncle Henry did return, you know?" Maggie went on, tears starting to prickle in her eyes again. "Aunt Lucille has already been through so much…and Jacob would have his dad back." She sighed, "His death has really taken a lot out on my dad too."

"How's he doing?" Marty asked, remembering how devastated Fred appeared the night before when they'd found Henry's body.

"Since Aunt Lucille is in compete denial about the whole thing, my dad is the one who's been handling all of the funeral arrangement stuff and it's just…it's hard on him and it's not something he should be doing alone."

"Want me to go by and help him out?"

Maggie shook her head as she rubbed her hands on the corners of her eyes, "I just came from there, I was barely any help to him," she shared, "I think he wishes that Aunt Lucille would step in to help or even take over the whole thing."

"Maybe we should go talk to her then."

"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea," she replied after giving a tiny scoff. "We'd either make her really angry and she's kick us out or she'd ignore everything we said and shoo us away with a pieces of pie."

Marty shrugged, "I could go for some pie."

His comment brought the smallest of smiles to Maggie's lips, but it was still a smile and one that made Marty happy to see.

"I'm serious though," he continued. "I think it would be a good idea for us to talk to Lucille and get her to understand how unlikely the chances are of Henry returning. It'd be the best for everyone."

Maggie drew in a shaky, big breath as she nodded her head, "You're right."

And with that said the two stood up from their seats on the table and began to head back over to the house for what they were sure would be a very difficult talk.

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little of both? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Next Chapter: Expect to see more Lucille and a little more stuff brought in from the episode._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone! First off I am so very sorry for the longer wait with this chapter. I started school again this week and hadn't been feeling very well in the days prior to that. I'm back now and I'm hoping to have another chapter (maybe two) up before the finale on Sunday. Can you believe that the season is over? I'm only hoping that we will get another season! At least one more to get things wrapped up, on another time slot maybe? I know that ratings had not been very good but I think a lot of it was because of the shows it was against. Of course that's just my opinion, what do you guys think? Once again thank you for the amazingly sweet reviews and wonderful support! It truly means so much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter1 Thanks for reading and please do review if you can, I'd love to hear your thoughts! This includes thought on the previous episode or episode to came, always enjoy talking about that! Hope you like and as always, please, Enjoy!_

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Maggie and Marty sat at the kitchen table with a big slice of blueberry pie in front of each of them. Their eyes followed Lucille as she fluttered around the room, continuing to work on the growing number of dishes of food. They would be tired from just watching her if they weren't already feeling so worried.

"Aunt Lucille, maybe you should sit down," Maggie suggested.

"Oh no, I can't, sweetheart," came Lucille's smiling reply as she finished checking one pot and moved on to the next, "I still have so many more of your uncle's favorite foods to make."

A small frown formed on Marty's forehead, "I don't think you should be going through the trouble of making all this."

She shook her head as she continued to move about, "It's no trouble. Besides, Marty, you know as well as anyone how big the appetite of the Returned can be." Lucille continued on as she began to use a wooden spoon to stir the contents of a silver mixing bowl. "Henry already had quite the appetite on his own; I can only imagine what it'll be like when he comes back as a Returned!"

The mention of Henry coming back as a Returned caused Marty and Maggie to exchange subtle sideways glances. They had to have this talk with Lucille now. They had already wasted enough time and it was affecting everyone, especially Lucille. The longer they waited, the harder it would be.

"Aunt Lucille, I really think that you should sit down," Maggie said again but this time she sounded more like she was insisting rather than suggesting; the she added in a more sincere tone, "Please."

Lucille's bustling slowly died down as she caught the sight of the desperate, almost pleading with concern, look that was written all over her niece's face.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a five minute break," she reasoned, smiling just slightly.

Then the older woman took a seat in front of the young duo and gave them a smile that they soon returned in an awkward fashion. They sat in a silence that was neither comfortable nor tense, it was the kind of silence that should have been comforting but it wasn't, all thanks to the looming feeling of something that needed to be said but couldn't.

Just from watching them, Lucille could tell that Marty and Maggie wanted to tell her something and she had a pretty good feeling it would be something that she didn't want to hear. Of course that didn't mean she had to listen to them or for that matter let them say anything at all.

"How's the pie?" she asked, changing topics before the first one could even really begin.

At first Maggie was startled by her aunt's unexpected question but she soon forced her best smile on and picked at the nearly uneaten pie piece, "It's really good."

"It's great," confirmed Marty, his piece was half gone.

Hearing these responses made Lucille grin and nod her head; Marty figured now was as good a time as any.

"Lucille, we need to talk about Henry."

At the sound of someone else saying her husband's name, Lucille's mood seemed to brighten—you could see it in her eyes—"Did you hear from him? Is he coming home?"

"No, I haven't," replied Marty in a saddened voice. "And I don't know if we ever will."

Both Maggie and Marty watched Lucille intently. They were unsure of how she would react to this; with anger and rage, with sadness and tears, or neither of the above and just continue on with her denial? It appeared to be latter of the three as her smile came back after shrinking if only a smidge or two.

"You know, the first time that I made blueberry pie was the day that Henry and I officially moved into this house," Lucille suddenly shared with them. "I wanted to make it feel more home-y for Henry and I. I thought that baking a pie would be the perfect way to do this. Of course, having just moved in we had few ingredients for anything. So I sent Henry to the store for cherries and he came back with _blueberries_. Now how anyone mixes up the two is beyond me but…"

"Uncle Henry isn't coming back!" Maggie interjected; her voice much louder and harsher than she'd intended.

The corners of Lucille's mouth lowered just a bit, "I have to check on my carrot cake."

Marty watched as the redheaded woman stood up from her seat, he knew he couldn't let her walk away from the table and most importantly, away from this conversation. Soon he was on his feet and working fast.

"No, you don't," Marty said in a firm tone as he grabbed a hold of Lucille's arm—his hold was softer than his voice; she turned to look at him and he continued. "You need to sit back down and listen to what we have to say."

Maggie watched the stare down between Marty and her aunt, it lasted for several tense moments before Lucille at last, slipped out of his grasp and back into her seat at the table, causing Marty to do the same.

"I know this is hard for you," Marty started again, sounding more sympathetic than he had before. "And I know you wish Henry would return, we all do. But it doesn't look like he's going to."

Glancing at Lucille, her smile had become the faintest Marty had ever seen it but it was still evident as she shook her head and remarked, "You don't know that Henry's not coming back."

"And you don't know that he will!" Marty instantly regretted raising his voice the way he did, but she needed to understand this.

Lucille's smile had now vanished without a trace and Marty only hoped that it meant she was finally coming to terms with her husband's sudden passing.

"I know it's hard to accept but you have to. The way you're carrying on now, thinking and acting like Henry is coming back, it's not healthy for you. And it's hurting your family. It's hurting Jacob."

As the room was consumed by another great bout of silence, Lucille's gaze shifted downwards to the surface of the table where her clasped hands rested. During this silence, Marty sat patiently in his seat while Maggie stood up and walked around the table so that she could sit beside her aunt. She had just settled into her seat on Lucille's left when the woman broke the room's stillness.

"We had a fight."

"You and Jacob?" Maggie questioned leading her aunt to shake her head.

"Henry and I," Lucille clarified before going on. She spoke in a distant voice and never looked at Maggie or Marty; it was as if she were reliving the events of the argument. "We had a fight earlier that day. That's why he was driving around late that night. It was a horrible fight. We said such _mean_ things to each other. It was like we were trying to see how could hurt the other more. I blamed him for everything that happened with Jacob and Margaret and he blamed me for Jacob's death."

Having recently learned the part of the story of how Lucille had been sleeping when Jacob died, Maggie immediately felt for her aunt and her eyes showed her empathy as she reached over to put her hand on her aunt's arm. Meanwhile, Marty was just confused; he only knew that Jacob had drowned one day after school when he was trying to save his Aunt Barbra, he didn't know the other part of the story—and of course, now wasn't the time to share it.

"We were so angry with each other and that anger only grew after he left. When Fred came to tell me what happened, I was even more furious with Henry because on the way to answer the door I had tripped over his damn work boots. I was always telling him not to leave them just lying around…"

Marty noticed Lucille's voice drift off and for a split second there was the faintest of smiles on her face, as if her words evoked a private memory between her and her husband; but all too soon it disappeared and she continued to speak, her eyes becoming glassy as she did so,

"I can't believe that the last feelings we had towards each other were filled with so much anger. Henry must have died feeling such animosity towards me but what's worse is he must have died thinking that I hated him," she unexpectedly broke out of her daze and looked at the pair; in her eyes were more tears that were on the verge of falling. "And that just not true. I love…loved him so much."

Lucille then broke down sobbing; using a past tense word in regard to her husband appeared to be the thing that finally made Lucille understand that Henry really was gone. Realizing this had her crying harder than when she found out about the accident the night before, because now she had accepted that no matter how much she wished, or how many of his favorite meals she made, Henry wouldn't be coming back.

Sorrowful wracking sobs continued to shake Lucille's body, showing no signs of stopping. It was a tough thing to witness, Marty could only watch on with a heavy heart while Maggie enveloped the crying woman into a tight hug.

"He knew, Aunt Lucille, he knew," she tried to assure her mourning aunt. "I grew up watching the two of you and the love between you and Uncle Henry was always evident. You two had been through so much over the years. Jacob's death, the closing of the factory, Jacob's return and a million other things in between. All of it formed a strong bond between you two that not even some horrible fight could break."

Maggie's words must have brought Lucille some comfort because her loud, harsh sounding sobs had ceased into silent cries—however, with just as many tears as before.

Though Marty could see that Maggie had a handle on this, he felt compelled to say something too. He had after all been part of the reason for Lucille's current tears. It may have been for Lucille's own good but her distressed state did nothing to help Marty's guilt.

"Maggie's right. I mean I haven't known you as long as she has," he began to say to her. "But in the time I have known you and Henry, it was pretty clear. Henry was crazy about you. And he always knew that you loved him. I don't think you could've done or said anything to change his mind about that. Mostly because it took a lot to change his mind about something," Marty added with a light smirk, "He was pretty stubborn like that."

"He was," Lucille agreed with her eyes red and her face stained with tears. "He really was."

Gradually a silence took over the room as Lucille's cries and sniffles lessened—with the help of the words previously said by her niece and Agent Bellamy. Once she composed herself as best as she could, Lucille looked across the table at Marty.

"There's always going to be part of me that hopes Henry will come back," she admitted to him.

"I know," Marty replied, reaching out and touching Lucille's hand. "And that's okay. But carrying on like you were before, that wasn't good for you or Jacob."

Lucille nodded her head and gave another little sniffle. Just then Lucille's cell phone rang from its spot on the kitchen's large island. Maggie was about to get up and answer it when the owner of the phone halted Maggie's movements before they could even be made.

"I'll get it," Lucille said as she pushed herself out of her seat and wiped her hands under her eyes. "It's probably your father again. I've avoided his calls long enough."

On the fourth ring, Lucille grabbed the phone and pressed the answer button without checking to see who it was. She placed it against her ear and prepared herself for any funeral questions that Fred must have been calling to ask her about.

"Hello?" she said then was surprised when she heard a feminine voice on the other end of the line. "Oh hello, Connie. No I didn't….Yes, I heard I…what?"

The shocked tone of voice used by Lucille instantly caught the attentions of the two sitting at the table. They looked at each other briefly before moving their eyes back to Lucille, who was still engrossed with the conversation she was having on the phone.

"He did? Are you sure?" There was a pause, during which a smile appeared on Lucille's face and when she spoke again all traces of sadness were gone. "Yes, yes it is. Connie, I'll have to call you back later. Yes, okay, goodbye."

She disconnected the call and placed the phone back on the food filled counter, then looked over at Maggie and Marty, a grand smile on her lips and a new twinkle of hope in her eyes.

"What was that about?" Maggie asked not being able to help the curious tone the question was asked in.

"That was Connie Green," Lucille started to explain. "She said that Preacher James brought back Frank Henderson. She saw it with her own eyes."

"Frank Henderson?"

Lucille nodded, "He died just a few days before Henry. And Preacher James brought him back!"

"How'd he do that?" Marty skeptically wondered.

"It doesn't matter how he did it," Lucille argued and then her smile grew another few inches, "Don't you see? He can bring Henry back!"

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Like it? Not like it? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Next chapter will probably have more from the episode True Believer as well as the aftermath and unseen scenes I think happened between scenes that we saw in the show._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Did you all see the finale last night? What did you think? I honestly loved it so much I wanted to rewatch it over and over today and last night…so far I've only rewatched it twice lol But I'd love to hear your thoughts too! In the meantime, I have a new chapter for you! Sorry for not getting it up sooner I was going to post it last night right before the season finale but I was too excited about the finale lol This chapter was cut in half so the next chapter will be sort of similar to this one and by that I mean some parts are a kind of summary of what happened in "True Believer" I hope that you don't mind. Thanks to kevinthebird and TvFanaticDayDreamer for giving their two cents on that. And thank you to all you wonderful readers! The reviews you all left on the last chapter were so generous and so sweet and so amazing, thank you! I hope that you all like this chapter too! Please if you have the time, leave a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading, hope you like, and as always, Enjoy!_

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The next twenty four hours were to say the least, a whirlwind. Some hours flew by with things seeming to happen all at once, while others dragged on as if time had suddenly been put into slow motion. And the emotions…there were so many different mixes of emotions for everyone involved but most especially, Lucille.

After she'd shared with Marty and Maggie what she had learned about what Preacher James was said to be able to do, she started making calls to find out where exactly Preacher James was so that she could meet with him. Between the phone calls to other citizens of Arcadia, Marty tried to talk some sense into Lucille, while Maggie called in for backup—Fred.

It didn't take long for Fred to arrive at the Langston Family home—he was happy to get away from the depressing papers and brochures he'd been given to help him plan his brother's funeral. When he got there, Lucille excitedly shared the news about Preacher James and once she'd finished Fred found himself feeling a speck of hope.

There wasn't a lot that they knew about how The Returned came back, Fred understood this. It's what made him dismiss the idea of his brother coming back as one of them; but if he had some help from the preacher who was said to be able to bring back those who had died…maybe, just maybe, Henry could come back.

When Lucille announced that she was going to see Preacher James, Fred instantly volunteered to not only drive her there but be part of the visit with the preacher. Fred could tell that Lucille was in a susceptible state and he didn't want anyone to even try to take advantage of her.

Their mini pow wow with Preacher James had been an interesting one.

While Preacher James had given them the good news, that he could bring Henry back, he'd also made a rather strange request. He had explained that in order to brig Henry back, he would need some help—from Agent Bellamy. However, his order to bring him Marty was not a happy or casual one, it sounded more like a king asking for someone's head…perhaps maybe not to that extreme but it had certainly left Fred feeling uneasy.

Still, Lucille was determined to do whatever it took to get her husband back.

After stopping by her house to pick up a few things, Fred drove Lucille over to Maggie's apartment so that they could tell Maggie and Marty what happened during their meeting with Preacher James.

Both Marty and Maggie were already against the visit with Preacher James—there was just something about him that told them he might not be one to trust—so when Lucille told the about the request for Marty's help, well needless to say, Marty was not a fan of the idea of helping Preacher James out in any way. Even if it was to help bring Henry back.

Not that Marty believed that Preacher James could do this.

Marty tried to tell Lucille that she was just being played; that Preacher James couldn't bring anyone back and he was trying to get to him by using them, but it was useless. The preacher had given Lucille more false hope than she'd had before and this angered Marty even more.

He was positive that Preacher James was some kind of con man—his sister's stories about him did not bode well for the preacher—he took advantage of families and Marty did not want him taking advantage of another; especially not one that he'd become quite close with during his time in Arcadia.

But then that same family was soon asking him to help bring back someone very important to each of them. They asked him to give it a shot, to at least try, there really was nothing to lose. They started doing this one by one. First Lucille, then Fred, and even Maggie, but it was when Jacob asked for him to try, in his small voice, that Marty knew he no choice but to say yes.

As soon as Marty said that he would do it, Lucille threw her arms around him and thanked him before he had the chance to even think about changing his mind. She then asked Jenny and Jacob to help her get some things from the car and Fred followed them wordlessly out of the apartment, leaving Maggie and Marty alone.

"Thanks for doing this," Maggie said after several silent moments had passed.

"I haven't done anything," reminded Marty. "And I don't even know if I'm actually gonna do anything…the anything you all are hoping for. So don't thank me."

Maggie smiled softly, "Still, you're trying and it really does mean a lot. Thank you."

Marty was about to make a remark on what she'd just said when the apartment's door opened back up and the small group who's recently exited the place, reentered with small boxes and a few scrapbooks in their arms.

"Preacher James said he needed a picture of Henry too," explained Lucille as she and the others settled into the sitting area of Maggie's apartment. "And I think it should be a good one."

"What does he need a picture of Henry for?" Marty questioned, wearing a deep scowl.

Lucille shrugged, "I suppose to know what he looks like."

"I know what Henry looks like. I'm supposed to be helping him, aren't I? That's what he wants, right?" Marty pointed out, "What does he need the picture for then?"

The answer to Marty's questions came as a sharp glare from Lucille followed by Fred gently guiding Marty away from his sister-in-law.

"How about we take a break from the game of Twenty Questions?" he suggested, jokingly.

"I'm not playing a game," Marty firmly declared with a growing frown. "If I'm gonna do this, I need answers."

Though Fred could understand where the agent was coming from, he still sadly shook his head, "Lucille doesn't have those answers."

Marty suddenly felt the tension in his shoulders lessen. Fred was right, Lucille didn't have the answers, she knew just as much as he did. It was wrong of him to be taking this out on her, especially when she was already going through enough as it was.

"I like this one," Jacob said as he held out a picture to his mother.

Smiling, Lucille looked down at the photo and saw that it was one that had been take many years ago. In the picture were Jacob and a young Henry, grinning cheerfully as they lay in the backyard hammock. It was photograph that warmed Lucille's heart and made her smile even more.

"I do too. But I think we should find a photo of your dad that more recent."

"You mean one where he's bald?" Jacob asked bluntly, surprising his mother while the others struggled to stifle their laughs.

"Jacob, your father is not…" she had started to scold but drifted off when she realized he wasn't far from the truth. She sighed, "Let's just not say anything about that when your dad does get back. He might be a little sensitive to the subject, okay?"

Jacob nodded his head and then went back to searching through the box of loose photos.

"How about this one, Aunt Lucille?" Maggie asked as she handed her aunt a new photo. "It's a nice one."

Lucille grinned as she saw it, "Yes, it is."

The photo Maggie had found was more recent; last Christmas in fact. Henry and Lucille were standing in front of the Christmas tree in their living room, his arm over her shoulder and her left hand resting over his chest, smiles on both their faces.

Christmas had always been one of Lucille's favorite holidays. Of course it had also been another holiday that was tough to get through during the first few years following Jacob's death. And even thirty some years later, when the holidays rolled around, there was a strong sense of melancholy that hung in the air.

But this year, with Christmas only a little ways off, it looked like it could be a Christmas that Jacob would be here to celebrate! Lucille did not want her husband missing out on that.

"I think it might be better if it was one with him on his own," Lucille shared out loud.

Maggie nodded, "Okay, but it might be kind of hard to find one like that. I've never thought of Uncle Henry really being a fan of having his picture taken, especially by himself," she reminded as she came across a photo of herself and her uncle at her graduation from medical school. She smiled at the image in her hands.

"Maggie, is this you?" Jenny unexpectedly asked, holding up a picture of a baby smiling in a stroller.

"Yeah, that's me," Maggie confirmed, grin staying in place.

Hearing that there was a picture of a young Maggie, Marty let his curiosity get the best of him and he joined the others on the sofa and surrounding chairs. He took the photo from his sister's grasp and began to grin when he saw the photograph of chubby cheeked—Baby Maggie.

"You were a pretty cute baby," he told her.

"Hey, I'm still cute," argued Maggie.

Marty shrugged his shoulders and teasingly added, "If you say so."

That caused Maggie to playfully shove Marty who only laughed, causing Maggie to laugh right along with him. All the while, Fred watched the scene from afar, smiling at the sight of seeing his daughter so happy.

"Uncle Fred, look!" a little voice suddenly called out.

Fred did as the voice told him, turning in the direction of where the voice was coming from and finding Jacob holding up another old photo. This time the photo was of him, Henry, and Jacob sitting at the river bank, fishing poles in their hands and grins on their faces.

"Remember when we used to go fishing?" Jacob asked enthusiastically, waiting for no response. "Can we go again?"

As Jacob asked his questions, Fred's stare remained on the photo, looking at their smiling faces. His smiling face. He looked so happy… it had been a long time since he had been that happy. It had also been a pretty long time since he and Henry had spent some quality time together, whether it be going fishing or watching a ball game.

If his brother did come back, Fred decided, he would start making more time for not only his brother but his whole family too.

"Yeah, maybe," he told Jacob with a lopsided smirk.

That answer was good enough for Jacob and he grinned with excitement before heading off to show the picture to Jenny. Meanwhile, Lucille sat silently staring down at a photograph that she held in her hands. It was Maggie who noticed her state first and she wondered how long the woman had been sitting like that.

"Aunt Lucille?" she called softly, "Did you find a picture?"

Lucille smiled with shinning eyes and nodded, "I think so."

Both Jenny and Jacob crawled closer to the mother seated on the sofa; they wanted to see what the photo she had chosen looked like. When Jacob saw it, he titled his head slightly.

"Where was this taken?"

"At home," his mother answered, smiling a grin that seemed to grow as her mind recalled the memory of that day, "I think we wanted to get some film developed but still had a few pictures left on the roll so I took a few shots of Henry there on the porch just to finish up the roll," she explained. "It was taken just on an ordinary kind of day, but doesn't he look handsome?"

"He looks bald," replied Jacob.

A smile stretched further out on Lucille's lips and she shook her head at her son, "You are just trying to use that as much as you can before your dad gets back, aren't you?"

"Is that the one you wanna use, Luce?" Fred asked over Jacob's carefree giggle.

Gazing down at the photo, Lucille's smile faded just a tad. She closed her eyes then brought the tips of her fingers, on her right hand, up to her lips. She pressed them there for a moment or two before moving them back down and softly pressing them against her husband's smiling, photographed face. Her eyes fluttered open and she nodded.

"Yes," she replied and as she handed the picture to her brother-in-law she looked over his shoulder at Marty. "Will you tell him there's a pot roast waiting for him when he gets home?"

Marty could only nod.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Like it? Not like it? Mixed feelings? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_I wanted to quickly add in just a little something, don't know if you all caught it but in the episode of "True Believer" when Marty and Fred meet with Preacher James in his church Preacher James is actually holding a photo of Henry. I paused it and everything, it's him! And that's where the photo scene came from in this chapter!_

_Next chapter you can expect to see more recaps of the episode plus a few new scenes!_

_And seriously, if you're like me and still can't get over the season finale feel free to message me! I'd love to talk about it some more!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! I am so sorry for taking so long to get this new chapter to you all. I got so busy with school I've had such little time to write. And I'll admit this chapter isn't the most exciting, it's part two to the last chapter which was a recap of the episode "True Believer" next chapter will be better though! It'll have more original ideas and more dialogue between the character and hopefully it'll be up a lot sooner too! Thank you all so so much for the incredible encouragement and wonderful reviews you've left on the story so far it means so very much! You all help keep the story going! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, sorry if it's not the best, next time should be better! Please if you can, leave a review with your thoughts, it would really mean a lot! Thanks once again for all your amazing support, please review if you can leave a review, hope you like and as always, please, Enjoy!_

* * *

Marty's meeting with Preacher James was even more interesting than the one Lucille had with the man. Like with Lucille's visit, Fred tagged along to not only drive Marty there but to be there for him during the encounter with the preacher—it was Fred's own form of showing his gratitude towards Marty.

When they met with Preacher James, Henry's photo was handed to him by Fred. The preacher appeared to be studying the picture carefully and Marty wondered why. He wanted to ask him but there was another question he really wanted an answer to.

"Why did you tell them I could bring Henry back?" he demanded to know.

Preacher James continued to look down at the photo in his hands and plainly replied, "Because you can."

Marty wasn't sure what had upset him more, the words that were said or the way that they were said. Whichever it was, it filled him with a whole new level of infuriation. It seemed like every time Marty was anywhere near Preacher James he felt a leery feeling inside him that just didn't allow him to trust the man; however, this time it was more than just skepticism that Marty felt.

The meeting couldn't have been more than a few minutes long but in those few minutes Preacher James had sent Marty on a rollercoaster of emotions. First anger, then confusion, then came fear and a sense of power that swiftly faded into a more vulnerable emotion.

Confusion, however, was the only emotion that remained as the powwow came to an end and James directed them out of the church for the Returned, remarking that they had work to do.

It was also confusion that continued to linger and grown when Preacher James led Fred and Marty out to the mysterious field that kept appearing in Marty's dreams…visions…he wasn't sure what they were.

At the field was an open grave, they didn't know who had dug it up but Preacher James told them who it was for—him.

He explained that in order to retrieve Henry he had to go where Henry was. He had to die and he'd already decided what would be the cause of his death. Preacher James told Marty and Fred that one of them had to shoot him and both men were taken aback by the request.

Hearing this, all of Marty's suspicions had been confirmed. He wasn't really needed to help bring Henry back. Preacher James would be making that journey or whatever it was, on his own. And he needed to be shot? That was crazy, the preacher was insane.

Marty told him how he felt about the idea before refusing to have any part in it; Fred meanwhile had a different kind of reaction.

Without a second thought, Fred shot the preacher dead. Proving, that like Lucille, he was determined to do whatever it took to get his brother back.

It had been Fred who suggested they go look for them when he noticed the hour, Preacher James said it would take, had passed. Marty proposed that they split up and so they did just that. They drove back into town, keeping their eyes peeled for Preacher James or Henry, and then they split up into their own vehicles and continued their search separately.

Each on their own path, Fred and Marty looked throughout Arcadia all through the night and a good chunk of the morning. The sun of the new day had already been shinning for several hours when the two men met up and pushed on with the search together in Fred's work vehicle.

It was well into the afternoon when they finally decided to pack it in. Preacher James wasn't coming back and neither was Henry.

The news was going to devastate Lucille and neither of the men was looking forward to telling her. It was while Fred was thinking of his sister-in-law that he realized there was someone else who he needed to tell the news of Henry's death.

Fred's phone call to his mother was quick but not painless; in fact, it felt as though it was tougher for Fred to tell Margaret the news than it was for her to hear it. Still Fred, knew that his mother was greatly affected by hearing that one of her son's had died; he could tell by the way she hung up the phone so abruptly.

Part of Fred was actually grateful that she hadn't allowed him to see or hear her breakdown, he was sure that the sound would have broken him and he needed to stay strong for Lucille.

Fred hated how he'd had to break the of Henry's death to Lucille last night but now to have to do it a second time? He wasn't sure he could do it. Of course, he would. He'd do it for Lucille and for Henry.

Lucille's reaction last night had been heartbreaking on its own and Fred was sure it would be worse the second time around.

And he was right.

When Marty and Fred told Lucille what happened, how they'd been searching for hours for Henry and Preacher James but had found nothing, Lucille was confused and didn't believe them. She told them they weren't making any sense, Preacher James told them he could bring Henry back. She then insisted once more that Henry would return.

"Henry is coming back," she declared, remaining in high spirits.

"No, he's not!" Marty shouted.

As soon as Lucille looked at him and he saw the fear and pain in her eyes, Marty felt guilty for using that tone of voice. Of course, this was only a smidge of guilt compared to the extreme amount of guilt he was already feeling for agreeing to go along with Preacher James' deception and giving Lucille not only more false hope but more pain.

Scared blue eyes looked at Fred, hoping to find some kind of assurance; something that said Marty was wrong, that there was still hope. Instead Lucille fond her brother in-law somberly shaking her head back and forth.

"There's nothing we can do," Fred spoke gently, hoping—wishing—his soft voice would somehow lessen the blow of it all. "Lucille, Henry's gone."

"No," Lucille wailed a heart-rending cry.

There wasn't a lot that Fred could do to help ease Lucille's hurt but what he could do, he would do. He opened his arms and wrapped them around Lucille's shaking body. Lucille continued to weep as she tightly hugged Fred back, clutching the shoulder of his jacket so fiercely as if it had played a role in her husband's passing.

While Lucille's agonizing sobs continued to fill the house, Jacob came bounding down the stairs.

He walked straight to the front door, never saying a single word, and pulled open it open revealing Preacher James. And Henry.

The sight of Henry standing before them was a shock for everyone; expect Jacob who had quickly and gleefully told his father, "I knew you'd be back."

Watching Henry lift his son up in his arms, after having seen his lifeless body being loaded up into an ambulance, only a little over twenty four hours ago, was a lot for Marty and especially Fred to take in. There were a million and one questions running through their minds. How was this possible? Was Preacher James really behind this? Was this really Henry? Was he really okay?

Fred was so overwhelmed by it all, he had to grab onto the banister of the staircase to keep from tumbling over.

Meanwhile, Lucille had only one thought going through her head; her husband was back.

She watched the hug between father and son and continued to cry openly, out of happiness this time. She had already been blessed with the miracle of getting Jacob back and now she had Henry back as well…in that moment she felt like the luckiest woman in Missouri.

Then just when Lucille didn't think she could feel any luckier she saw Henry move Jacob into one arm, then look over at her wearing that little smirk of his and Lucille felt her heart skip a beat.

Her husband was back.

She rushed over to Henry and before he could move his arm around her she had hers wrapped tightly around him, silently vowing to never let go.

And she didn't.

As Henry was welcomed back by the others, a grin and manly pat on the shoulder from Marty and a somewhat awkward hug from Fred, Lucille kept her hold on her husband while tears silently streamed down her face.

She tried to stay as close to Henry as she could, holding onto his hand then his arm, even keeping her hand on his back. It was almost like she was afraid to break contact with him. As though she were worried that if she lost that closeness with Henry, he would suddenly disappear for good.

Once Lucille was able to compose herself, stopping her tears but keeping her grip on Henry, she invited everyone to an early dinner of Henry's favorite foods.

It was an invitation that Marty and Preacher James declined, there was a comment made about them needing to talk before they left the Langston home. Fred on the other hand, accepted the offer and even called up Maggie to invite her; but his call was answered by her voicemail and Fred figured it must have been a busy day at the clinic.

Dinner was a rather quite one. The elephant in the room was ginormous with colorful stripes but it remained ignored and avoided throughout the meal.

Fred couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that his brother didn't want to say anything about his death or his return. Lucille didn't seem to mind this, in fact she avoided the topic almost as much as Henry did—if not more so. Most of the dinner conversation came from young Jacob who eagerly filled his dad in on everything he had missed in the past day and a half.

For dessert there was cake and coffee for the adults and cake and chocolate milk for Jacob.

Soon the meal was over, not because they'd run out of food—there was plenty for the rest of the week—but because everyone was full. With every big dinner came a lot of dirty dishes and as Lucille began to gather them from the table she told her son to get ready for bed, reminding him that he had school tomorrow.

Jacob was quick to comply and after giving his father another big hug and waving at his uncle, he headed upstairs.

Wanting to show his appreciation for the home-cooked meal that she'd invited him to, Fred helped Lucille clean up the mess that the wonderful meal had created.

While Lucille filled the sink with water, Fred gathered stacks of dishes from the table and took them to her. There were so many that he had to make several trips. Fred was in the process of leaving the kitchen to retrieve some more when he pushed the swinging door open just a bit and caught the sight of his brother stepping out onto the front porch.

His brows furrowed slightly as the front door was silently shut. He figured Henry just needed some space and Fred was willing to give him that; however, before Fred left tonight he was going to make sure he would tell his brother what he'd spent the past day wishing he had said to him sooner.

Lucille had washed no more than two of the food-smeared dishes when she suddenly stopped and decided that they could wait until morning. There were more important things to do than cleaning some dirty dishes. She explained to Fred that she was going upstairs to tuck Jacob in and Fred took that as his cue to say goodnight and head home—of course, not before talking to Henry.

Minutes later, Lucille appeared to have caught the end of the Langston Brothers' talk because by the time she had finished with Jacob and peeked out through the front door's window she saw Fred already off the porch and climbing into his vehicle.

Quietly she opened the door and stepped onto the front porch and into the night air which was much colder than she thought it would be. She pulled her light sweater closer around her as she walked towards her husband.

"Hey," she greeted looking up at him with concern. She had also noticed how distant he was at dinner, "You okay?

Henry didn't look at her, his eyes scanned around nervously as he looked at everything but her. "Was it all a dream?"

Lucille sighed, to her the past few days had felt like a nightmare. "Which part?"

Finally Henry looked at her and she could see the confusion and worry in his eyes.

"Us. Jacob." He paused once more, "All of it."

Lucille stared up at her husband, staring into his blue eyes that seemed to be searching hers. She could tell he was desperate for an answer, for something to make him feel better. She felt bad that she couldn't give him an exact answer but she didn't have one. All she could do was tell him how she felt about it, but maybe that would be enough to make him feel just a little bit of comfort.

"Honey, I don't care," she told him with a light southern accent.

A grin broke onto Henry's face as he let out a chuckle, it was a sound that warmed Lucille's heart and had her smiling her own smile as she reached her hand out to touch her cheek. Then she did something she didn't think she'd be able to do again, something she had been wanting to do since he walked through the threshold.

She kissed him.

The moment that Lucille's lips touched his she felt it. That same magical, blissful, nearly indescribable feeling of love that always she felt whenever she kissed her husband. She now knew once and for all, Henry was back.

Her Henry was back.

Still relishing in the feeling of the spark that she never thought she would feel again, Lucille pulled out of the kiss and slowly opened her eyes. Her lips curved into a sensuous smile and she gazed at her husband with a look in her eyes that she saved just for him, before she took his hand in hers and led him into their home.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little of both? Hope it wasn't too bad! Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_So I was recently reading some reviews of the episode True Believer and some viewers picked up some interesting things. And one of the things discussed in a review was whether it was really Preacher James who brought Henry back or was it someone else? Was it maybe Marty when he started to believe in Preacher James? Was it maybe Lucille who never gave up hope that Henry would be back—the episode was called "True Believer" and it looked like Lucille was the true believer in that episode. _

_I had pretty much assumed it was Preacher James, but since I love Henry/Lucille I think it's sweet to think that maybe Lucille's faith and hope did somewhat help bring Henry back. I'm a romantic, I know lol What do you all think?_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well. Today I have for you a new chapter to The Unthinkable. I apologize for taking so long to get to posting this but I was busy working on the other oneshots I had posted in previous weeks. I'm getting more and more oneshot ideas these days however I do still plan to continue this story and already have the next few chapters planned out. The next one even close to written :) Thank you so much once again for the amazingly awesome support you all have given this story, it means so very much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's back to using my original ideas and not the recap of the show. Also quick note here, a special shout out and thank you to TvFanaticDayDreamer for letting me use the character of Max. Thank you! And thanks to everyone else too for stopping by to read, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please if you have the time, please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'm always open suggestions of requests! Thanks again for your wonderful support, hope you like, and as always, please, Enjoy!_

* * *

The next morning Lucille woke up in bed alone. She immediately felt a sense of panic wash over her and her heart ached at the mere thought of Henry's Return being only a dream.

Lucille caught the sight of crumbled sheets on Henry's side of the bed—proving that he had been there—and it made her feel a little better. However, Lucille knew the only thing that would truly bring her comfort was actually seeing her husband. She soon climbed out of bed, grabbed her dark teal colored robe and wrapped it over the nightgown she wore, then left the bedroom.

Upstairs there was no sign of Henry. Lucille had even checked Jacob's room where she found her son sleeping soundly; she closed his door and continued her search to the lower level of the house.

Cautiously she walked down the staircase and through the hallway that lead into the kitchen, when she finally reached the end of it she released a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

Henry was standing in the kitchen, in front of the stove, flipping what looked like pancakes.

"Isn't this a surprise," Lucille said sounding impressed as she walked into the kitchen. Her voice caused Henry to look up and she smiled warmly at him. "How long have you been up?"

"I never fell asleep," he replied, looking back down at the food he was preparing.

The smile on Lucille's lips suddenly fell. Not sleeping was one of the Returned's characteristics. Seeing Henry cooking in the kitchen, while not a usual sight, it still felt normal and ordinary, like the past two days had all been part of Lucille's overactive imagination. Hearing that Henry had one of the Returned's attributions was the quick splash of cold water that hit Lucille's in her still sleepy face, reminding her that her husband was not only a Returned but he had died as well.

"Oh," she said. looking around and spotting the made coffee and the dirty dishes from last night's dinner now washed and clean, drying in the dishrack. He really had been up for a long time.

She turned back to Henry and forced on her best smile, "Why didn't you wake me? I could've helped you fall asleep or at least stayed up with you for a while."

Her thoughtfulness brought a smirk onto Henry's lips, "You were sound asleep," he told her. "And I could tell you were tired. Your snoring's always louder when you're tired," he teased, his smirk still present.

"Well how could I not be tired after last night?" Lucille asked in a sultry tone of voice, moving closer to her grinning husband. "I'm glad to see all of you has Returned and in the properly working order."

Henry let out a chuckle at his wife's words but it was soon silenced by her lips capturing his in a tender, loving kiss.

"Uncle Henry!" a feminine voice was suddenly heard saying.

Before Henry could really comprehend what exactly was going on, his lips broke contact with Lucille's and he was suddenly found himself wrapped up in a younger woman's arms. It had all happened so swiftly and the face of the woman now hugging him was hidden against his chest; if it hadn't been for the dark brown hair on her head and the exclamation of 'Uncle Henry' Henry wouldn't have realized it was his niece who was hugging him so tightly.

"Mags," he said, moving his big arms around her smaller frame.

Maggie looked up at her uncle and smiled, "You're really back," she said, soon noticing that she had stated the obvious. She shook her head, "I mean Marty and Dad told me you were back but I didn't believe them."

Henry's eyebrows rose with interest before he jokingly asked, "You didn't believe your own father?"

"Well I did but I couldn't really, not until I saw you for myself," she explained then paused as she studied his face. "Is it really you?"

A smirk crawled onto Henry's lips, "It's really me."

The answer appeared to have satisfied Maggie and she again hugged the man who had been like a second father to her; he of course hugged her back. From the sidelines, Lucille held her mug of coffee in her hands, smiling at the scene in front of her.

"I told you he'd be back," she reminded brightly before taking a sip of her morning beverage.

Slowly Maggie moved out of the embrace with her uncle and shook her head at her aunt—her smile, however, still remained quite visible.

"She really did you know," Maggie informed her Uncle Henry. "During all of this, she was so sure you were going to Return. Nothing we said ever really changed her mind. She never stopped believing you'd be back."

With his eyes on his wife, Henry smiled lightly, "I know."

Hearing her uncle state that he was aware of Lucille's behavior while he was gone, was not something Maggie had been expecting to hear. In fact, it puzzled her quite a bit. With her brows furrowed just slightly, she got ready to ask him what he'd meant but she stopped herself when she noticed he was no longer looking at her or Lucille but rather down at the food cooking on the stovetop. His downwards gaze told Maggie that this was something that he didn't want to talk about and so she decided to let it go. For now. There were still plenty of other important questions she had to ask him.

"So, how're you feeling?"

"Fine," Henry answered abruptly and quick; until he realized she wasn't just asking how he was this morning, she was asking how he was feeling since he had Returned. He turned around and faced both women staring at him with worried eyes, he then put on a smile and did his best to convince them that what he said was the truth, "Really, I'm fine."

The older Langston seemed more convinced than the younger one, or maybe she was just willing to believe him because she didn't want to think of the possibility of anything else being wrong with her husband. Whatever the reason she smiled at Henry before stepping forward and grabbing his left hand.

While Maggie looked skeptical, she said nothing and only nodded her head.

"Okay," she agreed, "But I still want to see you at the clinic as soon as possible."

Their niece's order caused the couple to look at each other and exchange looks before looking at the young doctor.

Henry lifted his chin in an inquiring fashion, "For what?"

Maggie took a deep breath, this wouldn't be the easiest thing for either of them to hear. "I wanna find out what killed you. Your death was so sudden and unexpected, Uncle Henry."

It was the concern in his niece's voice and the way that his wife's hand tightened around his anytime Maggie mentioned death or killed, that softened Henry's face and had him speaking in a gentle tone of voice, "Maggie, no one knows when their time is up. Death is one of the most unexpected things in life. There was nothing you could have done to prevent my death."

"I'd still like some answers," Maggie replied in a firm voice. "I mean was it your heart or the head injury you had that I never even checked thoroughly? I…"

"Maggie," he interrupted in a soft voice, "It doesn't matter how I died," Henry suddenly felt Lucille's grip tighten once again, which made him turn to his wife and give her a comforting smile, then looked back at his niece. He tried to keep his focus between the two women as he continued with what he had to say. "All that matters is I'm back now."

Maggie knew it was pointless to continue this fight against her uncle. She was lucky she'd made it this far. A heavy sigh breezed through her lips but she gave in and nodded her head, "Fine, but I still want to see you in the clinic as soon as possible." Catching the glimpse of Henry's brows starting to inch closer together, Maggie answered the question she guessed was already forming in his mind. "Just for a routine checkup. I've done it with all of the Returned in town, now that you're one of them, that includes you too."

Henry reluctantly nodded his head and it appeared that Lucille was just as cautious as her husband but for her own reasons.

Lucille was still getting used to the fact that her husband, like her son, was a Returned. It was a lot to take in for her; not so much that Henry had come back but that he had died. He had died the night they'd had that horrible, hurtful, stupid fight. As Maggie continued to speak, she said something that swiftly caught Lucile's attention and kept her from thinking of that horrific argument.

"And with that virus going around, even though it looks like we've got a cure, I still need to make sure you haven't come into contact with it."

Henry exhaled a breath, "Maggie…"

"Henry, you're going," Lucille declared before Henry got the chance to argue.

The look on Lucille's face was a stern, serious one; one that told her husband 'Don't you dare try to argue with me on this.' He'd received the message clearly and knew it wasn't even worth trying, especially since she had the doctor and their niece on her side.

"Guess there's no point in arguing with two Langston women," Henry commented and the women shared a smile. "What time do you want me there?"

Her grin remaining present, Maggie answered, "Any time that's good for you. The sooner the better though," she said and when she saw him grimace slightly she added, "If you call an hour or so before you get there I'll try to make sure you won't have to wait there for too long."

That idea seemed appealing to Henry and he smiled as he nodded his head, showing his appreciation. He then turned his focus back to the food he was cooking on the stove. He flipped one pancake and then a second one before raising his head and looking over at Maggie.

"You wanna stay for breakfast, Mags?" he offered.

Maggie's face scrunched into a small frown and she tried to get a better look at what food would be severed at breakfast. When it was too hard to tell she settled with having to just come out and ask instead.

"Did you make it?"

Henry smirked before replying, "Macaroni and cheese pancakes."

While Henry's answer had not been a yes or a no, it had definitely confirmed that he had been the one to make breakfast. Henry wasn't one to spend a lot of time cooking in the kitchen but when he did, the time was spent making some quite memorable meals—though they weren't always memorable for their delectable taste. There had been the egg waffles, the cinnamon bacon buns, the peanut butter and jelly pancakes, and of course the bacon waffle milkshake. When Maggie was younger she had loved helping her uncle come up with these fun combinations but now that she was older she was more concerned about the taste these odd combinations would make, among other things.

"Um no thanks," Maggie tried to smile politely. "I'll pass."

"Good choice," commented Lucille making Maggie laugh a little.

Henry frowned at the two women who appeared amused by his cooking skills or lack thereof.

"I'm standing right here, you know."

When she looked back at her uncle, Maggie's features softened, "We know and we're glad you are. We missed you."

"If you really missed me you'd stay for breakfast," Henry stated while transferring the mac and cheese pancakes from the pan to the nearby plate.

"You weren't gone that long, Uncle Henry," Maggie playfully replied before she made her exit from the house.

As Lucille waved Maggie off, Henry looked down at the food he'd prepared, the words from his niece floating around in his mind.

He looked over at his wife, "Is my cooking really that bad?"

"Henry, she was only teasing," Lucille said. "Your cooking is just fine."

His eyes staring down at the plate of pancakes he was frowning at, Henry did look very convinced or comforted by her words, so she continued.

"Jacob and Max always loved your cooking," she reminded and a tiny smirk began to emerge on her husband's lips. "Then again Jacob loves just about anything you do and Max was a dog."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Good? Bad? Mix of both? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I had fun writing it. It was nice to be able to write my own ideas for this story again and not get from the show's episode. Not that I didn't love the episode 'True Believer' could be part of my 5 top favorite episodes. Also once again, thanks so much to TvFanaticDayDreamer for letting me use the mention of Max. Thank you!_

_Next chapter we'll see the Langston family together again and find out there upcoming plans and whether Henry's macaroni and cheese pancakes were a hit or miss._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone, how are you? Hope you're doing well! This is no April Fools joke here, this really is a new chapter being posted! It's a little shorter than usual but it's setting up for the upcoming chapter and gives us a moment between the Langston family, something I wish we'd get a little more of in the show. Once again thank you everyone for your amazing and very kind support! It means such a great deal to me! I'm so glad that you all are enjoying it so much, your kind words continue to encourage me to keep writing this story. So really thank you! I hope you all like this chapter, if you have the chance please leave a review, I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks again for stopping by to read, hope you like it, and as always, Enjoy!_

* * *

Not long after Maggie made her exit from the Langston home, Jacob woke up and came down into the kitchen. The little family soon sat themselves at the table and ate their macaroni and cheese pancakes. They weren't as bad as Lucille had prepared herself for.

"What are we doing today?" Jacob asked when he noticed that the food on their plates had diminished a great deal.

"You, young man, are going to school," Lucille said as she grabbed her dish and stood up from her seat. "So finish your breakfast and hurry on upstairs. We're already running a few minutes late."

Jacob picked at his pancake with his fork; his mother's response was the one he was hoping she wouldn't say.

"Do I have to go to school?"

To any parent the question would seem like an ordinary question that was asked by their child almost every Monday morning; however, for Lucille and Henry Langston, hearing their son ask this question came as somewhat of a surprise—especially since Jacob, along with his grandmother, had pushed so much for him to get enrolled in a school.

With her eyes a little wider than usual, Lucille gazed at her son, "Excuse me? I thought you were the one who wanted to go to school so badly."

"Yeah," the young boy agreed, although not at all too happily. "But that was before."

"Before?" his mother repeated, raising her eyebrows to show her interest and concern.

Meanwhile, a smirk had made itself comfortable on Henry's face. He looked from his son on his right to his wife standing on his left, "He means before his teacher his teacher assigned him all that homework, right, Monkey?"

Hearing his father's guess of why he didn't want to go to school, Jacob was only slightly shocked that the guess made was correct and a hundred percent true. He loved going to school, making new friends, recess, and even learning knew subjects. He did not, however, like the homework.

As a confirmation that his dad's speculation was right, Jacob eagerly nodded his head up and down. Henry's smirk grew when he saw this which in turn made Jacob smile too. His dad understood—that meant he was on his side! With this thought in mind, Jacob believed his chances of getting the okay to stay home from school were looking better than before! He decided to give it another shot.

"So can I stay home today?" he asked, sounding hopeful and looking over at his dad.

"No," came Lucille's firm toned answered before Henry had the chance to say anything else.

A frown indented deep onto Jacob's forehead as he watched his mother's back while she placed the dirty breakfast dishes into the kitchen sink.

"Why not?" he insisted on knowing.

The mother sighed and narrowed her eyes before she turned around to face her little boy, "Because you're not sick."

"Achoo!" Jacob instantly faked a not so convincing sneeze.

Lucille couldn't help but smile at the attempt, "Nice try."

Henry then watched as his wife turned back around to get to work on the dishes while beside him, his son hung his head sadly.

He really did feel for his son. It may not have been great parenting, but Henry understood why Jacob didn't want to go to school today—it went much deeper than too much homework—and he didn't have much of a problem with the idea of him taking the day off today. He knew he should have, but he didn't.

Just two days ago he had died and now by some incredible power or even miracle, he had come back and gotten a second chance. It was a second chance that he didn't want to waste, one he wanted to spend with his family as much as he could. Henry knew Lucille had similar feelings and with just a little more convincing he could get her to give in and agree to the idea of Jacob not going to school today and instead letting him spend the day here with them.

"Come on, Lu, it's just one day," he pointed out as if it really weren't a big deal. "And what are the chances that today is the day that they decide to teach everything, huh?"

By now Lucille had moved her attention off the dishes and onto her husband.

"He already missed a day yesterday when you…" she couldn't bring herself to say the words; she swallowed hard before rephrasing her statement, "When we were waiting for you. If he misses three days in a row he has to take a doctor's excuse."

Though Henry sympathized for his wife when he saw her obvious trouble at talking about his death, he still didn't think that they had to send their son to class today—especially since he was making it very clear that he didn't want to go.

"Then it'll be two days," Henry remarked, "And if he decides to miss again tomorrow we'll just get Maggie to write up a note. That's the beauty of having a doctor in the family." Henry's teasing tone of voice and playful smirk caused Lucille's smile to break out from the stern and serious expression she had tried to maintain.

"You are a terrible influence," she told her husband, shaking her head at him which appeared to only amuse Henry more.

Jacob watched his parent's interaction and could sense the change in the atmosphere. It was more carefree and lighthearted just as he'd remembered things being like before. He also noticed the grin that his mother wore, that meant that she was in a good mood, she was happy—he might now have better luck at getting what he wanted… But there was only one way to find out!

"So can I stay home?" Jacob asked again, in an overly sprightly voice.

Lucille looked down at her son, finding is big brown puppy dog eyes staring up at her pleadingly. She exhaled a breath, "Fine."

"Yes!" Jacob cheered then slapped his open palm against the one his father held out for him.

While she enjoyed watching the mini celebration between father and son, Lucille had it set some ground rules before they could get too excited.

"But I don't want you staring at a screen all day playing video games," she explained. "We have to do something productive."

This sounded reasonable to Jacob and as long as he didn't have to go to school and could just stay home with his mom and dad, he'd be up for anything. Unless it was doing chores.

Figuring that he'd have a better chance of not doing any chores today if he came up with something to do—instead of leaving it up to his mother—Jacob quickly tried to think of something he could do with his family.

It didn't take him too long to come up with an idea. There was something he had been wanting to do with his parents for a while now but had been too afraid to ask.

"Can we go down to the river and have a picnic?" he asked, his voice showing his enthusiasm; then incase they'd forgotten, he added, "Just like we used to do, remember?"

Of course they remembered. They'd never forgotten.

Lucille felt her heart drop into her stomach when she heard her son's suggestion.

Over thirty two years ago, just about every other weekend the three of them would go down to the riverside for a picnic. They'd only plan to stay for the meal and some time after that but would instead end up spending the whole day there.

The river was where they had made so many family memories before Jacob had died. Henry and Jacob would head out in search of arrowheads or play in the water with the boat they'd built together or just go for a swim. Lucille would most of the time join in on their fun, other times she would simply watch on in awe—the bond between Henry and Jacob always warmed her heart—and sit back and relax with a good book, giving herself a break from her heavy studies.

The times spent down at the river were happy times, but they were also times that Lucille had not been able to think about in quite a while. Every time she would begin to recall those cheerful memories she was reminded of the tragedy that occurred at that same river. The tragedy that had not only shaken her world but had taken it from her as well. It was easier to just not think about those moments down at the river, they now carried too much pain; and there were plenty of other happy memories with Jacob, that occurred elsewhere from the river, that she carried in her memory and heart every day.

It wasn't as though Lucille couldn't look at the river, there was a good view of it from their backyard. She could also drive and walk past it with little trouble, but actually going to the form of water that her son's lifeless body had once floated in, that was something Lucille had never done. She knew Henry went to the river, or at least near it, several times over the years but she couldn't do it.

And she wasn't sure if she could do it now.

Her eyes traveled over to Henry, expecting to find him wearing a look that reflected the uneasiness she felt; however, it was a smile that Lucille found him wearing instead.

"That's a great idea, Jacob," praised Henry ruffling the young boy's hair.

Lucille stared at her husband, her worry more apparent than her shock, she struggled to keep her voice even as spoke, "Henry."

He looked up at her and gave her a comforting smile. Henry knew she wasn't just worried, she was scared.

"Come on, Lu," he urged but made sure to do it in a gentle manner. "We haven't been down there in a while. It'll be nice to go and makes some new, good memories there."

Lucille gazed down at her husband finding the encouraging look that he wore that was trying to tell her that everything would be fine, then she glanced over at Jacob's bright eyes. She knew she couldn't disappoint them.

"Looks like I'm outvoted," she told them both.

Instantly after Lucille's reply was said a great bout of excitement had between Henry and Jacob. As the boy and his father began to plan and share things that they could do during their family picnic, Lucille thought up an idea of her own.

"What if I call up Maggie and Marty? See if they and Jenny want to join us," she suggested, catching Jacob's face light up with joy. "Maybe we can even call up Fred and see if the whole family is up to playing hooky today."

While Jacob was practically dancing in his seat, Henry smirked at his wife, "Now you're thinking."

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Like it? Not like it? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Again I apologize for the short chapter but it's all leading to more, plus I didn't want to go too long without updating again._

_Next time we'll see some interaction with Maggie and Henry, possibly hear more about Henry's thoughts on Returning, and some Marty and Maggie stuff—because it's pretty long overdue!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone, how are you? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you a new chapter for this story, sorry it took so long, things have been crazy at school and I have a feeling that they will only get worse as we get closer to finals but I will definitely continue to work and write this story because some days your kind words and me just being able to sit and write are the highlights of my day that keep me sane. Thank you so much for all of your incredible support! It means so very much! I'm so glad that you all are enjoying the story so much still, we're gonna start picking up some pace now so get ready! :D Once again thanks for stopping by to read, please if you can, leave a review with your thoughts—I would to hear what you think. Thanks for your wonderful support! Hope you like the chapter! This chapter does include some medical information, I tried my best to do domes research and also got a lot of info from the show itself but I apologize for any incorrect information that might be here, sorry I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one. Oh and also just a quick note, if any of you are on twitter I've started this new thing on my account with a sort of 'Reasons to RenewResurrection' pictures included and would like to invite you to join in, my screenname there is the same as here only with the added number of 704, Nannygirl704. Thanks again for everything, hope you like this update, please review if you can, and as always, please, Enjoy!_

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"So everything alright?" Henry asked the doctor as she entered the examining room with his chart.

Though there was a possibility that her answer would not be all positive, a smirk crawled onto Henry's lips as he waited for the reply. He couldn't help it, even though Maggie had started her practice several years ago and Henry had been one of her patients a few times since then, he could still vividly remember the little girl wearing a plastic stethoscope around her neck and one of her dad's white button down shirts as her makeshift lab coat.

Now she had a real lab coat and a degree to go right along with it. Henry was proud of his niece.

"It looks that way," confirmed Maggie, looking up from the chart that she held in her hands. "It doesn't look like you've had any contact with the virus that's affecting the Returned and your overall health looks pretty good."

Henry nodded, "Did you get your answer?"

At first Maggie was taken aback, her gaze shot up from her uncle's records to the man sitting before her. She wanted to make sure that she had heard right. After all he had seemed so against the idea of her looking into this, but Maggie figured if anyone deserved to know this information it would be her uncle.

She nodded her head solemnly, "Yeah. It was your heart that killed you."

Gradually Henry's smirk transformed into a perplexed scowl, "I don't remember having a heart attack."

Maggie gave a sort of half shrug, half head nod, "Most of the Returned don't remember dying," she reminded before asking, "Do you remember feeling any pain in your chest or your left arm?"

"No," he shook his head, his frown remaining present. "Nothing like that. I don't remember any pain."

With her medical knowledge and the responses given by her uncle—along with reading and knowing his medical and family history—Maggie was beginning to come up with some conclusions that might give them a better understanding of what happened.

"Well, it could've been more of a sudden cardiac arrest rather than a heart attack. In a sudden cardiac arrest your heart will just suddenly stop functioning, it would have killed you instantly without you ever feeling anything," Dr. Langston went on into further detail. "It's like what…"

"What killed my father," Henry finished for her.

Shifting her eyes downwards, past the medical file and down at her shoes, Maggie shook her head up and down. Meanwhile, Henry's scowl had deepened onto its place on his forehead. He seemed to be having a hard time taking in the cause of his death, but who else wouldn't?

"Are you sure it was my heart?"

"The protein particles in your blood is what tells me it must have been something to do with your heart," Maggie explained to her uncle. "There's a possibility that the cardiac arrest or heart attack, may have caused some physical damage to your heart but in order to get a better look at that we'd have to do some further testing and…"

"No, no more tests," Henry declared. Even before he'd died, Henry had hated doctor appointments; now that he was given this second chance at life he didn't want to spend the day being pricked and poked by needles, he wanted to spend it with his family.

Maggie couldn't help but smile at his refusal and stubbornness, it was just what she'd predicted, it was nice to see some of the familiar traits of her uncle once again.

Henry did not want any further tests, he did not want any tests period. And even though this was his niece's practice, he wanted nothing more than to leave it and head home to his wife and son so they could go on their family picnic down at the river; however, there was one heavy question that was stuck inside Henry's mind, weighing him down and keeping him from leaving the clinic. Henry didn't think he'd be able to leave with the question floating around in his mind, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to know the answer.

He cleared his throat nervously, "If there is some kind of damage on my heart it would just…be there, right?" he managed to voice the apprehensive question; when Henry noticed Maggie's frown, he elaborated some more. "It wouldn't affect me or cause me to have another attack or arrest, would it?"

"No," Maggie swiftly answered.

When the Returned came back and got a checkup with Maggie, they usually had a clean bill of health. Injuries were recovered, cancers were gone, some did have signs of their cause of death like Caleb Richards…Abruptly, the thought of her best friend's father made Maggie rethink and rephrase her initial answer.

"I don't think so."

Henry knew Maggie her whole life, he and his wife had practically helped his brother raise her, Henry could read the young woman as well as he could his own son. As soon as he noticed her face crumble with confusion, accompanied by her sudden answer change, he knew she'd had a new thought that must have been troublesome.

His eyes stayed on her but his head titled in a curious manner, "What are you thinking, Mags?"

Maggie stared back at her uncle. The worst part of her job was telling a patient bad news, she hated it, but it was part of her job. This was different though, this was dealing with the Returned and not just any Returned but her Uncle Henry. The only thing she hated more than telling bad news to patients, was lying to her family.

She took a deep breath before starting, "Caleb Richards died of a heart attack. He was also one of the first of the Returned to disappear."

While Henry listened, he wore a frown, he couldn't understand why his niece was telling him this information—he already knew all this.

"Marty was there when Caleb disappeared and it didn't sound like it was very peaceful or like it had been his choice to disappear," Maggie went on to explain some more. "He was in some kind of pain, coughing, and asking for water…"

It didn't take much time for Henry to connect the dots, "You think the heart attack that killed Caleb Richards made him disappear?"

"Maybe," replied Maggie in a clearly uncertain tone. "Caleb's disappearance is just as much of mystery as his reappearance."

"And you think that same thing could happen to me?" Henry asked the million dollar question.

"I don't know," confessed Maggie in a small voice, "Maybe."

She wished she could give him a different answer; even if it was the answer that neither one of them hoped would be true. It wouldn't be good but it would still be a solid answer and Henry wouldn't have to walk around constantly wondering 'what if?' Her uncle however, seemed to be more understanding with this ambiguous answer.

He slowly nodded his head before stopping and catching Maggie's eyes with his own, "I don't want you telling your aunt about this."

"But Uncle Henry," Maggie immediately began to protest, stunned that he'd want to keep something so important from his wife.

"I mean it, Maggie," he sternly told her. "Your Aunt Lucille's already been through enough these past few days. I've put her through enough already…I just want to give her a break. So for now, let's just keep this between us, okay?"

Maggie looked at the man in front of her who was waiting to hear her 'okay,' but she was having trouble with the two syllable word. She was torn. While she didn't like the idea of keeping such serious information from her aunt, her uncle did have some valid points. Lucile had been through a lot these past few days. And they weren't even sure if what they were thinking was true—they had no real evidence—why worry her with something that might very well be nothing? Plus there was the patient-doctor confidentiality.

"Fine," Maggie relented but not without coming up with something to make this promise work in her favor. "But if I keep this from Aunt Lucille, you have to answer one question for me."

Henry thought the tradeoff sounded fair so he nodded in agreement.

"What was it like to Return?" she instantly asked.

The question made Henry's face fall, "Fine, tell Lu."

"Uncle Henry," Maggie started.

By now Henry's frown had turned into a deeper, angrier scowl, "I'm not talking to you about this, Maggie," his tone was an affirmative one that his niece knew not to argue with.

"You don't have to," she told him but it didn't sound like she was giving up. "You can talk to Marty or Aunt Lucille. Just talk to someone about it."

"I don't want to talk to about it period."

"Then don't. You can write it out instead. You could write it in a diary," Maggie heard a scoff and corrected herself, "Or a _journal_, whatever you want to call it. Just write it all out so you don't have to keep it to yourself. And whenever you think the time is right you could give it to us to read and you wouldn't have to relieve and retell it all," she reasoned, his resistance was telling her that his return was not exactly easy or happy and it didn't sound like something he should keep to himself; then Maggie added, "But it's better if you do it soon, before you forget."

Henry arched up an eyebrow, "Are you calling me old?"

"I'm just saying if you decide to write about it, you should do it while everything's still fresh in your mind," explained Maggie, wearing a gentle smile. She could see that her uncle was still hesitant so she continued.

"Uncle Henry, right now you're the only Returned who remembers actually _returning_. Anything that you could share with us about that experience could help us better understand the Returned. It could help us figure out how they got here, maybe even why they're here. It might even help us help them in the future."

Staring straight ahead at his niece, Henry held her gaze for several moments before he finally spoke up, "I'll think about it."

It wasn't a no.

"Okay," she nodded.

"And you won't tell Lu about any of this heart stuff, right?" he asked, wanting to make sure Maggie kept her end of the bargain.

A smile crept onto Maggie's lips as she teasingly said, "I'll think about it."

Henry chuckled, sensing her playfulness in her response. He scooted off the examining table while Dr. Maggie made a few new notes in his medical file.

"You're going down to the river with us, right?" Henry double checked.

As her lips stretched out, Maggie turned to find her uncle now standing in front of her. "Yeah, Marty and Jenny are gonna pick me up here and after I let everyone here know I'm leaving, we'll meet you over there."

"Great," he grinned then moved his hands under Maggie's ears before placing a quick kiss on the top of Maggie's head. "We'll see you then."

Maggie smiled in return and watched Henry exit the exam room.

0o0o0o

A little while after Henry left, Maggie found herself in her office putting away any files and papers that were for whatever reason, were still out. Her uncle had been her last patient for the day—unless there was an emergency or something that the on call doctor couldn't handle. She was really looking forward to just spending the day outside with her family, Marty and Jenny included, but she couldn't seem to get the appointment with her uncle out of her mind.

"Hey."

Maggie looked up and saw Marty standing at the doorway of her office.

The sight of him made the corners of Maggie's mouth tug upwards, "Hey."

"I just saw Henry leaving, everything okay?" he asked, he was just as concerned about Maggie as he was about her uncle; there was something about her that seemed a bit off.

"Yeah, for the most part," answered Maggie before she stopped her actions of clearing her desk and looked up at Marty. "It was his heart."

Marty's face softened as he right away recalled the guilt she had felt and expressed to him the night Henry died, "There was nothing you could've done to prevent that…"

"I know, I know. That's not what's got me so upset," she admitted.

"Then what is it?"

Maggie stared back at Marty taking less than a split second to decide on telling him what she now knew, "Before he Returned, Caleb Richards died of a heart attack."

The words caused a frown to fold itself onto Marty's forehead but as he gave it some thought that same frown unfolded and disappeared, "And he disappeared on his own."

"Exactly," Maggie said, she liked how Marty could quickly jump onto her train of thought without her having to give too much of an explanation.

"You think Caleb's disappearance was related to the heart attack that initially killed him?" questioned Marty, his brows slowly starting to crease together again.

She sighed making her shoulders droop, "I don't know, maybe."

Marty nodded in agreement. She was right, she didn't know and he didn't know. This was becoming another reminder of how much they still didn't know about the Returned.

"Did you tell Henry about all this?" came the agent's second question.

"Yeah," nodded Maggie before a look of frustration emerged on her face. "He doesn't want me to tell Aunt Lucille."

"So then don't tell her," he replied with a slight shoulder shrug.

His calmness clearly aggravated Maggie. "She's his wife," she said as if he needed reminding, "You don't think she deserves to know about this?"

"Yeah, I do _but_ I also don't think you should tell Lucille any of this right now."

When the words left Marty's mouth he could see how much they had upset Maggie but he didn't regret them—he had his reasons and decided to share them.

"Look they invited us to spend the day with them, something that means a lot to Jenny and me. It's pretty obvious they want this day to be about family and appreciating the fact that they have another day together. So let's try to give them that, a day about family. No talk about Returns or disappearing, at least for today, okay?"

It took a good few moments to pass before Maggie finally gave in and bowed her head in a nod, "Okay."

"Great," Marty smiled, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I've just got to let them know up front that I'm leaving."

Both Marty and Maggie then exited from her office and walked over to the front desk so that Maggie could sign out and say goodbye. It was while she was signing off on a few things that she suddenly noticed that Marty was alone.

"Did you already drop Jenny off with Jacob?" she guessed out loud.

"No, she said she wanted to wait in the car," replied Marty before informing, "By the way, she already called shotgun."

Maggie looked at Marty with enlarged eyes, "She can't call shotgun if the other person isn't even there," she pointed the tip of her pen at him. "You need to teach that kid the rules of shotgun."

"Didn't think there were rules for shotgun."

With a miniature smile on her face and a little twinkle in her eye Maggie declared, "Guess I'll have to teach you both."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little of each? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Once again, please excuse any medical errors that I may have made in this chapter—I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV._

_Next chapter we will see some family moments by the river and will find out if Fred will be joining the group as well. And a character who we have not yet seen in this story could be making his/her first appearance next chapter. Any guesses who that might be?_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	11. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well and not too stressed out with the end of school years near. Sorry for this late update, I'm one of the ones being swamped with school stuff as we get closer to the end it's nearly here! Thank you so much for all of the incredible support though, it truly means so much! I'm really glad that you all are enjoying the story so much, I'm sorry I haven't been able to update as often as I would like but I am hoping that will change in the next few weeks. Cross your fingers! And while you've got them crossed, keep them crossed for Resurrection's renewal. We get the news this month, next few days is what I'm hearing, people aren't too positive about it but I'm staying hopeful! Thanks again for the wonderful support! It means so very much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, please if you can please do leave a review, I would love to hear your thoughts! Thank you for everything, hope you like, and please as always, Enjoy!_

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The flap top of the large wicker picnic basket shut closed with a light slap, causing Lucille to give a satisfied smile.

It had taken several minutes of arranging and rearranging but she had finally managed to get the basket to close properly—without any Tupperware or packages of food sticking up and out. As she took hold of the basket's handles and carried it over to the kitchen table, Lucille heard a familiar voice shout out her name.

"Lu?"

"In the kitchen," she replied to her husband's call.

Once the picnic basket was settled on the table beside the faded blue checkered blanket that Lucille planned on taking with them to the river, she turned around to see Henry walking into the room. She greeted him with a smile but before she could say a word, she found herself in Henry's arms as he gave her a very loving, very long kiss.

It took several moments to pass before Henry finally pulled his lips away from his wife's; when he did, Lucille's eyes remained shut as she continued to relish in both the moment and their kiss.

"Mmm," she moaned softly, slowly opening her eyes and letting a smile creep back onto her still tingling lips. "I wonder what would have happened if I said I was in the living room."

Henry chuckled at her words before explaining his actions, "Do you realize if things hadn't worked out the way that they did I never would have been able to come home to you again? Never been able to find you in the kitchen or kiss you hello." He wasn't looking for a response to the question and continued, "I've taken advantage of all that these past few years and I'm sorry. I don't plan on doing it again."

Lucille gave him a smile that was more forced than it appeared to be.

While she was touched by her husband's words and promise, she didn't like thinking of what had caused his sudden change of heart.

"How did it go with Maggie?" she asked, shifting the topic just a bit but it was enough to keep her mind off Henry's death and Return.

Now it was Henry who felt some of his jovial attitude fade away but continued to keep a smile in place for the sake of his spouse.

"Fine, just fine," he answered, "She said it doesn't look like I've had any contact with the virus effecting the Returned so we don't have to worry about that."

His words were the truth, they didn't have to worry about the virus; but Henry didn't tell his wife what they should be worried about. Instead he took his turn at switching the focus of conversation to avoid telling about what he didn't want to discuss.

"Where's Jacob?"

"Out on the back porch. It was part of our deal," Lucille replied then explained a little further when she caught the emergence of Henry's small frown. "He wanted to wait for you by the river and I wanted him to wait for you inside. So we compromised."

"Good parenting," Henry praised making Lucille grin. "You know, Maggie said they'd meet us down there so we can start heading out."

It was as if the sound of those words paralyzed Lucille and the only part of her that was making any kind of movement was her rapidly beating heart. Somehow she managed to muster up the word, "Okay."

She heard it in her own voice, with her own ears, but she wasn't able to completely register what she had said until she saw her husband grin back at her. Lucille returned the smile, trying to mask the unsettling feeling that filled her insides.

With his spirits still high and light, Henry moved over to the table to retrieve the packed picnic basket. His right hand reached out and grabbed the handles of the basket, carrying it off the table only to have that same arm be pulled downwards in a sudden, yanking motion.

Henry's eyebrows rose up before scrunching together as he stared down at the basket, whose weight was excessive and very unexpected. He soon shifted his gaze and frown back at Lucille and saw that she seemed to find some amusement in his current state.

"We have a very hungry boy on our hands," she reminded him.

"This feels like a lot of food even for Jacob," commented Henry, sending his scowl back at the basket. "What kind of lead did you pack in here, Lu?"

"Just the necessities. Some sandwiches, chips, some celery sticks, carrot sticks, grapes, water, juice boxes, a few sodas," Lucille continued to rattle off her mental list and each time Henry thought she was nearing the end she would add two more items. "Ingredients to make more sandwiches if we need to. Bread, cheese…"

"We'll only be a little ways from the house, you could run back here if we need anything instead of taking it all with us," Henry interrupted with this suggestion.

"I know," she firmly replied but her face softened with a smile as she gave her true explanation. "But I'd rather we have everything with us. I don't want to keep running back and forth, I want to spend as much time as I can with my family."

Henry nodded his head, he understood what his wife was up to and why doing things this way was so important to her.

It wasn't because she wanted to cut down the number of trips back to the house or because she wanted to have everything with her. It was because she didn't want to leave her family—even if just for a few minutes. She didn't want to leave Jacob.

"Okay," was all Henry had to say to that.

When Henry and Lucille stepped out onto their back porch they found their son sitting on the floor, absentmindedly poking an anthill, found at the edge of the porch, with a stick. Henry smiled at the sight. He could recall him and his brother doing similar things to pass the time on a long, boring, hot summer's day.

"Hey Monkey, you ready to go?" he asked.

Jacob's head shot up and when he looked behind himself and saw his parents, most specifically his father who he had been waiting on, his eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth met the corners of his eyes.

"Finally!" he exclaimed.

Henry laughed as he watched his son race towards him, "I'll take that as a yes."

While Jacob ran over to his mother and father, his excitement grew and beamed more and more off his baby face; however, when he at last stopped and stood in front of them his grin suddenly diminished itself when a new thought struck his mind.

"Do we still have to wait for the others?" he asked, already sounding disappointed and very impatient.

Lucille smiled softly at her little boy, "No, they're meeting us down there."

Jacob's eyes were immediately animated by his happiness when he heard his mom's assuring words,

"Yes!" Jacob cheered joyfully and got himself ready to sprint off to the river that he wanted so much to go to.

"Jacob," his father called out, stopping Jacob in his tracks before they could even be made. "Why don't you help your mom out." He said, sounding more like he was making a request rather than a suggestion.

Order or not, Jacob didn't appear to mind following his dad's words. Lucille on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled with them.

She gazed at her husband, "Henry, it's only a blanket, I can carry it."

"So can he," Henry pointed out, using his chin to point from the blanket in Lucille's arms then over to their son.

Deciding to give in, Lucille transferred the blue checkered patterned blanket from her arms into her son's, smiling her thanks as she did so. Jacob accepted the blanket without any kind of compliant, he was actually pretty happy to help his mother out.

With the blanket securely in his grasp, Jacob looked over at his father. "Can I go up ahead and pick out a spot for us?"

"Sure," Henry grinned making the young boy's smile double in size before he turned around and dashed off.

"Not too far ahead, Jacob!" Lucille hollered to his retreating figured.

Jacob wasn't too far ahead when she shouted her words to him so Lucille knew he had heard them, however, he showed no signs that he had. She shook her head at this while Henry seemed to find it much more entertaining. Lucille cut her eyes at her husband. Not only did she not share his amusement but she was also still pretty miffed by the previous exchange he'd had with their son.

"I may not have come back from the dead like the two of you," she began to say as they walked through their backyard, following Jacob's pathway. "But I can still carry a blanket by myself."

Henry's smirk grew, "I know. But if you had, you wouldn't have your hands free to do this…"

He then proceeded to use his hand, that was not getting a workout from the over packed picnic basket, to reach out and grab Lucille's right hand.

Their fingers laced together, resting in the mold that had become more than familiar in the thirty plus years they'd been together.

The sensation of Henry's big warm hand grasping her smaller one made Lucille smile softly. Being able to come home and kiss her may have been something Henry didn't do as often as he should have but this little gesture was one he never took for granted.

He would hold her hand when they were alone, sitting on the porch together. When they were out in town, walking through a parking lot. Even in bed, when he'd have his arms around her, one hand always intertwined together with one of hers. And on the day of Jacob and Barbara's funerals, Lucille couldn't recall a moment that their hands weren't clasped together.

As memories of that somber day filled her mind, Lucille watched the young boy scurry off in front of them—her eyes shining with worry.

"You okay?" Henry asked but already knew that she wasn't—he could see the fear reflecting in her blue orbs.

There was silence, the only sound coming from the grass and twigs that crunched beneath their feet as they trailed further behind Jacob. Lucille's eyes stayed on Jacob while Henry's focused on her.

Things continued this way when Lucille finally spoke up.

"He hasn't been down to the river since…he came back," she managed to explain. "What if us going there brings up bad memories for him?"

Henry tore his gaze off his wife and followed were hers was, spotting the scene of his son jumping and climbing over any little obstacle that he found in his path.

He chuckled at his son's carefree display, "I don't think there's one bad memory in that boy's head."

The ghost of a smile appeared on Lucille's lips for just a moment.

"He's really looking forward to this, Lu," Henry went on to say. "I'm sure he wishes that you were too."

"I am," Lucille argued, but even she wasn't convinced by her reply. She sighed, "But I'm worried too."

"Lu…"

"Returned or not, children will always have their mother's worried about them," reminded Lucille before Henry's rebuttal could begin.

Though the words were sure to be true, Henry thought they were also unexpected—particularly the way they made him think of his own mother. However, Henry did not want to think about his mother, especially with how their last encounter had gone. So he put off those thoughts and focused on the here and now, on his wife and his son.

"I know," he said softly, giving her an understanding smile. "But everything's going to be fine. I promise."

Henry then lifted to his lips her hand, that he had grasped in his; placing a soft kiss on her delicate knuckles accomplishing two things: getting her worried eyes off Jacob and bringing a happy smile back onto her face.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? Be sure to tell me in a review!_

_Next chapter we will see the appearance of a character who has not appeared in this story. It was supposed to happen this chapter but it was getting too long and I was running out of time, so next time! And hopefully we'll get to see the family at the river too!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	12. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you a new chapter for The Unthinkable. Sorry it took so long to get it to you, it was a tougher one to write and I honestly didn't realize it had been so long since I'd updated. I think because I was thinking the last time I updated was when I actually posted my Mother's Day story not this one. Sorry about that! Also sorry for the shortness but there's more to come! Thank you so much for all of the amazing support you all have given this story. I'm sure by now most of you know that the show was not picked up for another season :( I'm still upset and depressed about it BUT that does not mean that I plan on abandoning this story or stop writing Resurrection stories. I still have a good few more stories planned As long as there are readers who are still interested I'll keep writing! Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Thanks for reading! Please if you can, leave a review with your thoughts, I would so love to hear what you think! Thanks so much for your support, hope you like, and as always, please, Enjoy!_

* * *

"I didn't think we were allowed visitors here."

Sheriff Fred Langston waited and watched his mother sink down onto the cold metal chair before he eased himself into a matching one on the other side of the large, steel table.

"That's one of the perks of being the town sheriff, Ma," he said, giving a lopsided grin. "You've got the power to make people make exceptions for you."

Margaret did not appear at all amused by her son's words; in fact by the warning look in her eyes it was as if she were looking at the six year old version of her little boy and not the real version of the grown man now older than Margaret herself.

"Power can be a very dangerous thing, Frederick. Especially when given too much of it," Margaret's words were as stern as the expression on her face. "You begin to believe that you can control anyone and anything when in actuality, you have very little power at all."

A small scoff escaped Fred's lips but he covered it with a cough. He couldn't help but find this advice his mother was trying to pass on to him, a little more than ironic—especially after the way she had tried to fix and control their lives with a sense of power she believed she had. However, there was also a reason for his pretense cough too. He didn't want to upset his mother nor had he come to talk about all that. He didn't want to discuss any of it, it had become insignificant to him after everything that had happened these past few days.

"Ma, Henry's back," he told her, happiness seeping into his voice.

This was the first time Fred had experienced the bliss and wonderment that others felt when their loved ones came back from the dead. Even when Barbara had Returned, he'd been ecstatic but it hadn't lasted for more than a minute or two.

Margaret nodded her head only once, "So I've heard."

The corners of Margaret's mouth remained still, never making the slightest twitch to indicate any kind of hidden smile. She was keeping herself guarded even in front of her own son.

Despite his mother's lack of enthusiasm, Fred continued on, he was sure he had enough of it for the two of them.

"It's really him, Ma. It's Henry," he explained, grin growing a little more. "I know it is."

Astonished, Margaret's eyebrows rose up, "That's a rather peculiar statement coming from the man who welcomed his mother back by saying the words '_You're not her_.'"

Fred bowed his head and chuckled, lifting it back up when he began to speak again.

"That was _before_. Before we knew more, a little more, about the Returned. It was back when…I was in a dark place then, Ma. But I know this is him. He's Henry," he said once more. "He's my brother, I know it."

His mother sat mutely, her eyes darting away from his. She had nothing to say about this. She never doubted that this may not have been her son back from the dead, she knew it was him just like she knew she was herself and Jacob was Jacob. She knew who the Returned were, what she was unsure of was _what_ they were. Margaret however, did not voice this concern, she knew her youngest son accepting her eldest one back so quickly was a big step for both her children and she did not want to set them back any. Besides she had other concerns and questions filling her thoughts but she wasn't sure if had the right to give them a voice.

"He's doing alright," Fred informed as if he'd been able to read what was going on in his mother's head. "He's at the house with Lucille and Jacob."

For the briefest of moments a look of relief washed over Margaret's face; blink too long and you would have missed it. All too soon the frost resumed and Margaret once again appeared cold and detached.

"I assume they must both be relieved to have Henry back."

Though it was a statement and not a question, Fred moved his head up then down in response. "Yeah, they are. We all are really," he admitted before going on to make another confession. "I was pretty worried about Lucille for a while there."

"Why?" Margaret asked sounding more skeptical than worried.

"She," Fred took in a deep breath as he thought of his sister-in-law and all the things she had been through during the previous days; he exhaled that same big breath. "She didn't take the news of Henry's death very well," he started. "When I first broke the news to her, she was…devastated. But not long after that, Jacob reminded us of the Returned and how Henry would come back. And Lucille believed him."

"Jacob?" questioned Margaret, this time her tone heavy with worry.

Her son nodded, "Yeah. This was before we found out about Preacher James and what we could do. When found out about what the preacher could do, Lucille only believe it even more," continued Fred, shaking his head lightly. "I never knew what to think but Lucille…she never gave up believing that Henry would return. I was worried about what would happen to her if he didn't…I'm just glad I didn't have to find out."

Margaret's eyes narrowed, "Lucille never accepted Henry's death then?"

Fred thought over her mother's question. There had been a brief moment when he and Marty finally managed to get Lucille to understand that Henry wasn't coming back, but of course, in that next second Preacher James had revealed Henry standing on the front porch.

"No, I guess not. Doesn't look like she has to now, though."

While Fred seem to be at ease by this fact, Margaret did not share his same sentiment and appeared to find denunciation in the whole topic.

In a disapproving manner, she motioned her head from left to right. "She is only setting herself up for a great amount of pain in the end."

Not liking the words that had been said or how they'd been said, Fred scowled, "In the end?"

"The Returned do not belong here, Frederick," she reminded, holding her chin up high. "It will only be a matter of time before things sort themselves out and the Returned will all be gone. This includes myself, Jacob, and now Henry."

Instantly Fred's shoulder's drooped, this was something that had never made its way into his mind and he was certain it hadn't even crossed past Lucille's. Having loved ones come back after they'd died was a miracle, but when they suddenly disappeared it was just as tragic as their deaths.

"By carrying on like Henry never died, when the time comes for the Returned to go back to where we came from, Lucille will have to deal with not only the disappearance of her son and husband but also her husband's death."

A silence filled the small dark room, Margaret sat staring at her youngest son, who kept his eyes down on the clasped hands he had rested on the table top. It wasn't until he looked back up that Fred began to speak.

"As someone who's felt the pain of losing the love of your life _twice_," he made sure to emphasize that last word. "I'm glad Lucille could be spared of feeling that pain, even if it's only for a while longer."

Margaret did to miss her son's not so subtly hidden message. She may not have had any involvement in Barbara's death but her disappearance was another story. However, Margaret knew her actions were only to help protect her family (even if they didn't believe this). She felt no guilt over what she had done; because she wouldn't allow herself to feel it.

Wanting to avoid Frederick's gaze she shifted her own; not in a downwards, regretful state but rather by simply turning her head to look at the blank wall on the left side of the room.

Fred shook his head at not only his mother's actions but his own as well. This wasn't what he had come here for, it was pretty much the exact opposite of it.

"Listen Ma, we're all going down to the river today, to have a family picnic," he explained, at last getting to the purpose of his visit. "Why don't you come along?"

She turned her head so that she could see his face; there was still no trace of a smile on her lips, they remained thin. "I would expect field trips away from here would be frowned upon."

"Town sheriff, Ma," reminded a smirking Fred.

A hint of what could possibly become a faint smile made a swift appearance but was then covered with a look of censure. She sat herself up straighter in her seat, "Is this invitation coming from them?"

"No, it's coming from me."

This time a tiny smirk managed to crack itself onto Margaret's face but it was accompanied by a somber shake of her head. "I'm afraid not even your 'power' as the town sheriff will get you what you want this time, Frederick. I am not going where I am not wanted."

"Ma, you are wanted there," Fred insisted. "I'm sure after everything Henry's been through he wants to see you and talk about what happened the last time you two saw each other."

"Then why is it you're here and not him?" she wanted to know.

Fred sighed, he knew this question would come about. "Because he's being…Henry."

Code word for stubborn.

"I want you there, Ma," Fred added on. "Pretty sure Jacob wants you there too."

There mere mention of her grandson's name made Margaret's heart swell with love and hope and then suddenly sadness. She loved her grandson immensely and had gotten used to seeing him every day from morning to night; now that she had been kicked out of her house it had been almost three whole days since she had last seen him.

Fred knew the reminder of Jacob would help convince his mother and give her the little push that she needed.

He gave another smirk, "Come on, Ma. Let's give it a shot."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? All three? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_So did any of you guess correctly? I think some of you did! Congrats to those who did! And I hope I wrote Margaret okay, I was so nervous and really am worried about that!_

_Next time we'll see the family down at the lake, moments with the kids, and possibly find out what Margaret decided to do!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	13. Chapter 13

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you a new chapter for this story and I apologize for it being a little late. I meant to post it yesterday but the day got away from me. Good news is the next chapter is almost done so hopefully it'll be up soon after this one! Once again, thank you so much for all of your incredible support! It means so much! I love hearing from you readers and I really thing that without you and your wonderfully encouraging words I would have stopped writing this story as soon as I heard the cancellation news. Fanfic is a way to keep a show alive and with a show called Resurrection I think that calls for plenty of fanfic. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, thanks for stopping by to read, please review if you can! I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas, who knows maybe I can add them into the story as well! Thanks for all of your amazing support, hope you like, and as always, Enjoy!_

* * *

By the time Lucille and Henry reached the riverbank, Jacob had already found a perfect spot for the family to have their picnic. As they began to set up in the picked place, Lucille tried to keep her mind off the worries concerning her son's safety. It was easier than she thought it would be when she saw how happy Jacob was to be back by the river.

The blue checkered blanket was laid out on the crunchy, not so green grass—maybe they'd come back once spring was here and things were in bloom, Lucille hoped they would at least have the option.

Henry and Lucille settled themselves onto the blanket but Jacob continued to stand, eager to continue exploring the place he hadn't seen in so long. He was just about to ask his parents for permission to wander off when Maggie, Marty, and Jenny arrived at the location. Quick greetings of hellos and the like were exchanged before Jacob could no longer contain himself.

"Can we go off exploring?" he asked with Jenny by his side. "I wanna look for some arrowheads."

The memories of searching for the Native American artifacts with his son, all those years ago, teaching him what he need to know in order to find them, filled Henry's thoughts and made him grin. He was all for letting Jacob got out on a little adventure but he knew he couldn't say anything before checking with his wife first. Looking to his right, where Lucille was seated, Henry spotted the anxious expression on her face—giving their son a simple yes answer would not suffice. Henry didn't want to make his wife worry any more than she already was, but he also didn't want that same worry to hold Jacob back from having some fun.

"Sure," he finally agreed and could see Lucille's eyes widen behind his back; but what she didn't know was he wasn't done yet. "But don't go too far and be careful."

Lucille relaxed at hearing this and Jacob was still thrilled from the initial part of his father's answer but not so much the second part. Though he was smiling, he had yet to move from his current stance, there was something holding him back.

"Can you come with us, Dad?"

Immediately, a smile sprung up onto Henry's face, "Alright."

He then pushed himself onto his feet, eager to spend time with his son and Jenny. He appeared to be so excited that he never bothered to glance over Lucille's way, causing him to miss the frightened look she was staring at them with.

Watching their retreating backs, Lucille looked at them as if they were going off to a dangerous war and not for some adventurous exploring on a riverside. Henry may not have caught onto the anguish Lucille was going through at the moment but luckily Marty had.

"Hey Jacob," he called out, stopping the boy in his tracks and getting him to turn back around. Marty gave a small smile, "Mind if I tag along?"

Jacob's face lit up, "Sure!"

"Come on, Marty!" Jenny gleefully exclaimed.

The excitement from the kids made Marty's smile grow, he no longer felt like he was just doing a favor for Lucille, he really did want to go join in on the search for arrowheads. Not because of the arrowheads but because of the people searching for them.

However, since Lucille was the reason behind his idea, before he stood up Marty quickly assured her, "I'll keep an eye on them."

Lucille smiled her thanks and watched the agent join the walking trip; meanwhile, Maggie sat down beside her aunt on the blanket, giving her a questionable look.

"I'm glad Marty volunteered to go with them," Lucille shared, once the group was out of earshot. "I just don't like the idea of them being out there together without anyone else there. They could…disappear…and we'd never know it until it was too late."

"Aunt Lucille," Maggie started to say, her tone slow and cautious. She wasn't sure she should bring this point up, it wouldn't bring the older woman any comfort, but Maggie felt like it was important to remind her. "Marty's a Returned too."

The soft smile Lucille wore gradually shrunk, "That's right. Sometimes it's easy to forget that."

"Yeah," Maggie nodded, fully agreeing with the statement. A smile grew on her lips when she had a new thought. "Maybe one day it'll be like that for Jacob too."

"That would be nice wouldn't it?" Lucille said the words while wearing a smile that Maggie noted was not as happy as it could have been.

Maggie watched her aunt carefully, her knitted brows suddenly un-scrunching and rising upwards when she saw Lucille begin to unpack the picnic basket—pulling out one Tupperware container after another.

"Did you invite the rest of Arcadia to join us or something? That's a lot of food."

"I have _two_ Returned in my home now. Our grocery budget is gonna have to be readjusted," reminded Lucille.

Looking at the six containers that had already been pulled out, Maggie nodded her head. "That looks about the right amount to fill up both Jacob and Uncle Henry."

"Those are just Jacob's" she informed causing the younger woman's eyes to double in size. Lucille laughed before pointing out, "He's a growing boy."

Once again, Maggie could only nod her head—mostly because before she could say anything else she heard a familiar tone and felt her pant pocket vibrate. She gave her aunt a polite smile as a form of 'excuse me' but found that Lucille had already gone back to pulling out the other contents from the Mary Poppins picnic basket.

Frowning slightly, Maggie retrieved her phone and clicked on the front screen to find she had a new text message from her father.

'_On my way.'_

Maggie smiled and put the phone away before announcing, "My dad should be here soon."

This news made Lucille smile but she said nothing and did nothing but continue pulling out food for the picnic. Now Maggie knew that there was something bothering her. And it had to be something other than worrying about Jacob because both Henry and Marty were with him and could take care of him. So what was it?

"Aunt Lucille, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she soon assured, at last stopping her emptying of the basket and looked at her niece—this would be the perfect time to bring up the subject. "How did Henry's appointment go?"

To say Maggie was shocked at the question was an understatement.

"Um it was…it was fine," she stammered, "Just fine."

"That's what Henry said," Lucille recalled then gave her niece a knowing smirk. "But I think you're both hiding something."

Maggie swiftly shook her head back and forth, "No, we're not hiding anything."

Despite Maggie's protest, Lucille didn't appear very convinced and her niece understood that it was going to be very difficult to change this.

"But maybe there is something that we haven't told you yet."

Lucille stared at the young doctor; her demeanor was calm and collective but her eyes looked worried, pleading to be told the truth.

Gazing down at her hands, Maggie felt guilty. She still felt that her aunt deserved to know this information but she also felt bad for not respecting the wishes of her uncle—who a day or so ago, she'd though she'd lost forever.

"I managed to figure out what it was that killed Uncle Henry," she explained, being sure to say the k-word with gentle care. Maggie felt somewhat better after she said these words. She told her aunt the truth but also was able to keep her word to her uncle by not mentioning the similarities to Caleb Richards.

The redhead's shoulders slumped. This was not what she had been expecting to hear, she had feared the worst. However, now that she knew the truth, she wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or concerned.

"Oh."

"It's not that we were hiding it. It's just, after the way you reacted when I brought it up this morning I figured you wouldn't want to know," continued Maggie. "Uncle Henry probably thought the same thing and that's why he didn't mention it."

Lucille nodded her head before asking, "What was it?"

"Aunt Lucille, don't do this to yourself…" Maggie tried to argue.

"No," Lucille interrupted, her voice soft and gentle. "I want to know."

The younger Langston knew not to argue any further. "It was his heart."

The instant Maggie shared this information, Lucille shut her eyes as if she were trying to shield herself from the painful image that these words had put into her mind.

Carefully Maggie reached her hand out to touch Lucille's arm. "Aunt Lucille."

"I told him he needed to take better care of his heart," Lucille said aloud but mostly to herself; then she quickly shook her head and to shift the blame elsewhere. "I should've made sure he got more exercise, watched what he ate…"

Maggie jumped in before Lucille could go on. "Aunt Lucille, you can't blame yourself," she said firmly. "If it didn't happen now it would have happened somewhere down the line. It runs in his family. Margaret's father died of a heart attack. Dad and Uncle Henry's dad died of the same kind of sudden cardiac arrest. Uncle Henry had a bad heart."

"I'm sure all the stress from Margaret's actions didn't help any either." Lucille couldn't help pointing out before adding, "And neither did kicking him out of his own home."

This time around Maggie said nothing. She heard the regret and sorrow in the woman's voice and could tell that she wasn't looking for sympathy or for someone to tell her it wasn't her fault; she just wanted someone to talk to, someone to listen to her.

"He's okay now, right?" Lucille asked after several silent moments had passed.

Because Maggie couldn't bring herself to actually lie to the woman who'd been the closest thing she'd ever had to a mother; she merely nodded her head and hoped that her aunt bought it.

"Good." She did. "Are you planning on telling your father?"

Again Maggie nodded but this time spoke up as well, "Yeah, I mean I know he's not gonna want to hear it but I think this will make his realize how serious he needs to take the health of his heart, especially with his family history," she explained, sounding more like a concerned daughter than the town doctor. "I'm hoping he'll let us monitor and take care of it now."

"Good idea, the last thing we need is going through all this a second time," Lucille commented as she handed her niece a bottled water before getting one for herself.

"Yeah," agreed Maggie. "Then the two of us'll not only be outnumbered in boys versus girls but in Returned versus non-Returned too."

At this statement the women shared a smile before clinking their bottles in a cheers motion.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little bit of both? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next time we'll see some more time at the lake with the kids. And will Margaret be joining the family at the lake? That answer is coming up very soon!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! I'm so very sorry for taking so long to update this story. Real life got in the way and then I was working on other stories—one for this show. But tonight I do have a new chapter for you for this story! I'm just hoping you readers are still interested! I do have the story planned out and there's a good number of chapters left, unless I combine them and make longer chapter but fewer of them. What works better for you all? Let me know! Thanks as always for the incredible encouragement, it means so much! Again I'm very sorry for the lack of updates but I do plan on updating more often like every Sunday or every other Sunday, it'll be like the show is still airing right? Lol Gotta keep the sow alive! Thanks again for everything, hope you all like, and as always please, Enjoy!_

* * *

"The best place to look for arrowheads are where two rivers meet because that's where the Indians used to hunt," Jacob explained to Jenny as the two of them walked along the riverbank. "Right, Dad?"

"That's right, you remember that?" Henry asked smiling as a look of awe crossed onto his face.

It had been decades since their last arrowhead hunt together, but Henry seemed to forget that for Jacob it felt more like only a few months.

Jacob nodded and grinned eagerly before looking back at his friend, "Come on, there's a spot like that up ahead."

The two kids sprinted off excitedly, making the two men smile at the sight, however as Henry watched his son move further off ahead he quickly remembered his wife nervously waiting for them at the picnic spot.

"Not too far, Jacob and be careful," he called out before adding, "You too Jenny. We don't want anything happening to either one of you."

While Jacob merely shouted a quick, "okay" over his shoulder, Jenny was a little more considerate and actually stopped walking for a few moments, turning around to look at her friend's father.

"Okay, Mr. Langston, we will," Jenny assured then waved her hand before walking back on the trail behind Jacob.

Henry lifted up his open palm at the young girl's retreating figure and his smile reappeared at the view of the two friends laughing and running.

Marty had also found some contentment in watching his sister and Jacob—he was glad that they had each other. Getting Jacob out of the government facility and bringing him home to Arcadia instead of taking him to the orphanage had been the best decision he'd ever made. It worked out for everyone but especially these two.

When the kids were out of sight but could still be heard, Marty turned his attention to Henry. "Take it you used to bring Jacob out here a lot before," he guessed aloud.

"All the time," confirmed Henry. "Almost every other weekend we came out here. There were a lot of games we'd play and things we'd do but looking for arrowheads was always Jacob's favorite."

Henry shared this memory but then suddenly became quite and decided not to share the fact that Jacob had been looking for arrowheads the day that he'd tried to save his Aunt Barbara. Just thinking about it filled Henry with remorse and sadness. And that's not how he wanted to feel today, that's not how he wanted any of them to feel today.

Today was about celebrating the second chance he'd miraculously be given, the second chance that had brought back Jacob, Jenny, and Marty. Although in Marty's case, it was a third chance but that was still worth celebrating. These second chance allowed them more time to spend together, time to spend making more memories with the people they loved; Lucille, Maggie, Fred…where was Fred?

Though Marty knew that Henry Langston would normally not be called a chatterbox, the older man's sudden silence concerned him.

"Henry," he called, not getting Henry's attention instantly. "You alright?"

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Henry turned to the agent and pressed on a slight smile, "Fine."

The reply had not only been swift but it did little to convince Marty that it was the truth.

"You sure," he asked again, "you're feeling okay?"

Henry's eyes stayed on Marty but this time he wasn't only looking at him, he was studying him. His smile had by this time faded away and been replaced by a wrinkled brow and an upright chin.

"Maggie told you about my heart," he concluded.

With a look that said 'you're right,' Marty shrugged his shoulders. "To be fair, I asked her."

The nodding motion of Henry's head lowered his chin back into its usual position before he spoke, "At least it wasn't Lu."

"About that," Marty began, being cautious as he did so. "Maggie seems to really think you should tell her."

"So do I," confessed Henry.

"Then why don't you?"

Before he could start his explanation, Henry felt the need to take in a deep breath and avert his eyes to the ground as he did so; keeping them there when he began to speak.

"Lu's been through a lot these past few days. Months even. I…I just don't want to give her something else to worry about."

Marty moved his head up and down, he could understand where Henry was coming from but wasn't sure if completely agreed with it; he knew it might not be his place to say anything, however he still felt like he should at least add in his two cents on the situation.

"I don't know, I mean I know that I don't know Lucille as well as you do. But what I've learned about her in the time I've known her is that she's a pretty strong woman," he said then spotted the scowl forming on Henry's forehead—either because he was taking in the words and considering them or because he was upset by them. Marty continued, "Look, I'm not telling you what to do. I just think it would be better if Lucille heard about all this from you and not someone else."

Henry raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner, a look that did not go unnoticed by Marty but instead of being offended by it he smiled instead.

"I'm not talking about me. I don't think it's my place to get involved," the agent explained. "Don't think Maggie feels the same though."

Nodding his head, Henry smiled a sort of unsure smile. "Guess I made a mistake by leaving the two of them alone, huh?"

Marty smirked, "Don't worry, I convinced Maggie not to mention anything and just let the day be about spending time together." He informed and it seemed to make the older man relax. "Can't make any promises about tomorrow though."

"Seems like nobody can these days," Henry mused out loud while staring at the body of water before him.

"You sure you're doing alright?" Marty couldn't help but question after that heavy observation that had been made.

"I'm fine. Sometimes though, it can just be…" he struggled for the right word. "Overwhelming."

Despite him settling on the word, Henry wasn't sure if that was the right word either; however someone else thought it was very fitting.

"Tell me about it. I've died and come back twice and still don't get…any of it." Marty spoke, thinking about his own Return, well the one that he was somewhat aware of. The only real proof he had of it ever happening was seeing his lifeless body, memories of it were almost nonexistent, while memories of seeing himself, like some sort of clone, still haunted his dreams.

"Seeing your own dead body, not something I exactly recommend to anyone."

"That's right, you saw your body afterwards. What did you do…with it?"

"Tom and I buried it in an unmarked grave," Marty shared, the memory fresh in his mind; however, a sudden thought pulled him out of his memories. "Why?"

Henry shook his head in a dismissive manner, "No reason. Is that Jenny?"

Marty intended to press on, figure out why Henry was curious about what he had done with his dead body—maybe he was curious about his own—however, the mention of his sister quickly shifted his focus and he turned his eyes to where Henry was looking. Sure enough, happily skipping their way was a grinning Jenny, but no Jacob anywhere near her.

"Jenny," Marty rather quickly before he asked the question that was already on Henry's mind. "Where's Jacob?"

Now standing in front of them, the young girl shrugged her shoulders, "He's talking to some lady."

"Lady?" Henry repeated, worry evident on his voice. "What lady?"

"He said she was his grandma," Jenny replied innocently, she really didn't think it was a big deal to leave Jacob with his grandmother. She was his family and Jenny had been taught to believe that family was a very important thing.

"Margaret?" Marty questioned but looked at Henry instead of Jenny.

Henry was still processing the news. His mother was here and she had Jacob? This was like some bad case of déjà vu.

"She's supposed to be at that facility," he reminded somewhat upset that she wasn't there now but mostly he was fearing for his son's safety. "Do you think she escaped?"

"I heard the security there's supposed to be pretty tight," explained Marty but he could see the worry on the older man's face and he was certain that it was similar to his own worry. He quickly thought up a plan. "I'll call up the people I know down there while I take Jenny back over with Maggie and Lucille. You go find Jacob, I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little of both? Let me know in a review!_

_In the upcoming chapter we'll see more of the Langston family reunion with Mother Margaret Langston._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have nice day! _


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